CKPT.  CHKRLES   KING'S 

POPULAR  MILITARY  NOVELS. 


THE  COLONEL'S  DAUGHTER. 

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MARION'S  FAITH. 

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KITTY'S  CONQUEST. 

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LARAMIE ;  or,  The  Queen  of  Bedlam. 
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TWO  SOLDIERS,  and  DTJNRAVEN  RANCH. 

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"  It  is  a  relief,  indeed,  to  turn  from  the  dismal  intro 
spection  of  much  of  our  modern  fiction  to  the  fresh 
naturalness  of  such  stories  as  these." — N.  Y.  Critic. 

"  No  military  novels  of  the  day  rival  those  of  Capt. 
King  in  precision  and  popularity." — Boston  Courier. 


J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  Publishers, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


CAPTAIN   BLAKE 


BY 

CAPT.  CHARLES  KING,  U.S.A., 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  COLONEL'S  DAUGHTER,"  "MARION'S  FAITH,"  ETC. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 

A.   F.   HAKMEK. 


P  H  1 1,  A  I>  E  M>  ft  I  A . 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 
1,891. 


COMPANY. 


CHARLES    H.    KOCKWELL, 

CAPTAIN   FIFTH   U.  S.  CAVALRY, 

WHO  AS  FRIEND,  AS  SOLDIER,  AND  AS  GENTLEMAN,  WAS 
WITHOUT  REPROACH, 

THIS  VOLUME   IS   INSCKIBED. 


MlSOlo 


PRELUDE. 


OCTOBER  in  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota.  Cloudless 
skies.  Golden  sunshine.  Keen,  crisp,  invigorating 
air.  Lovely  vistas  of  romantic  valley,  hemmed  in  by 
rugged  heights,  rock-buttressed,  pine-crested.  Clear, 
sparkling  waters  rushing  over  rocky  bed,  browsing 
herds  of  troop  horses  scattered  here  and  there  over  the 
billowy  slopes.  Bivouac  fires  twinkling  everywhere 
through  the  timber,  sending  their  curling  smoke  high 
aloft  towards  the  zenith.  Rich,  resinous,  balsamic 
odors  floating  on  the  faint  breeze  that  whispers  through 
the  tree-tops.  Here,  there,  and  everywhere  groups  of 
gaunt,  hardy,  bearded  men,  whose  rough  garb  of  can 
vas,  flannel  or  dressed  deer-skin  gives  no  evidence  of 
their  calling.  Only  the  parallel  rows  of  white  tents 
gleaming  in  the  sunshine  in  the  middle  distance  and 
the  stirring  peal  of  the  bugle  tell  of  the  probable  pres 
ence  of  a  military  force.  There,  down  the  valley  where 
it  widens  slightly,  the  strong  battalions  of  infantry  have 
stacked  their  long  Springnelds  and  pitched  their  canvas 
abodes  after  a  tramp  through  mud  and  mire,  over  ridge 
and  mountain,  under  weeping  skies  or  blazing  suns  for 
two  thousand  weary  miles ;  and  now,  blissfully  drink 
ing  in  this  perfect  air,  they  rest  from  their  labors. 
Here,  closer  at  hand,  swarm  their  comrades  of  the  cav- 


X  PRELUDE. 

Among  the  twenty  comrades  surrounding  the  new 
comers  hardly  one  is  any  better  off  in  point  of  cos 
tume;  many  are  worse,  yet  this  is  one  of  the  crack 
regiments  of  the  service,  and  it  has  long  been  known 
as  "  the  Dandy  — th."  Many  an  old  friend  of  Arizona 
days  is  here  :  Jack  Truscott,  long  the  adjutant  and  now 
a  beloved  troop  commander ;  bluff  old  Stannard,  the 
junior  major;  Raymond,  Turner,  Gregg,  Freeman,  and 
Wayne  among  the  captains;  Billings,  the  adjutant; 
Wilkins,  Crane,  Carroll,  and  Hunter  among  the  subs. 
Stanch  old  Buckets,  the  Arizona  quartermaster,  had 
been  decreed  with  Colonel  Pelham  too  much  of  a  vet 
eran  for  such  tough  campaigning  as  they  might  have 
to  encounter,  and  so  was  left  behind  in  May.  And 
Billy  Ray,  the  pet  of  the  whole  regiment,  the  idol  of 
Wayne's  squadron  since  their  savage  tussle  with  the 
Cheyennes  in  July,  was  now  recovered  from  his  wound, 
rescued  from  the  toils  that  had  been  thrown  about  him 
during  the  early  summer  and  coming  to  join  his  old 
regiment,  bringing  with  him  several  new  officers,  nearly 
four  hundred  recruits,  and  over  four  hundred  horses. 
He  is  now  but  a  single  day's  short  march  away,  and 
here  are  two  of  his  officers  sent  ahead  to  warn  the  gen 
eral  of  the  coming  of  the  command  and  to  request  in 
structions  where  to  meet  him,  for  it  is  well  known  that 
this  very  afternoon  the  cavalry  breaks  camp  and  moves 
away, — none  but  the  tall  brigade  commander  knows 
whither. 

And  it  is  an  old  friend  who,  laughing,  joyous  and 
jovial,  is  greeting  man  after  man  with  hearty  hand 
shake  and  jubilant  hail.  He  has  the  voice  of  a  sten- 
tor,  has  Blake,  and  the  legs  of  a  spider;  and  with 


PRELUDE.  xi 

many  a  facetious  comment  he  is  introducing  his  com 
panion  to  such  of  the  regiment  as  have  not  yet  known 
him,  for  Lieutenant  Hollis  has  just  come  into  the  — th 
by  transfer,  and  has  hastened  out  with  Ray's  command 
to  take  his  share  in  what  may  be  left  of  the  campaign. 
Both  he  and  Blake  are  garbed  in  neat,  trim-fitting 
fatigue  uniforms,  with  high  riding-boots  and  broad- 
brimmed  campaign  hats.  Both  are  tall  and  slender, 
and  Hollis  is  athletic,  even  elegant  in  build,  a  finer- 
looking  fellow  in  every  way  than  his  companion,  and 
a  much  younger  man.  The  greeting  accorded  to  both 
is  frank  and  cordial.  Many  indeed,  notably  Truscott, 
Turner,  and  Billings,  have  grasped  Blake's  gauntleted 
hands  in  both  their  own  and  wrung  them  hard.  They 
all  know  by  this  time  how  loyally  he  has  stood  by 
Billy  Ray  in  his  troubles  of  the  summer  past.  In 
greeting  the  new  subaltern,  men  who  never  before 
had  met  him  raise  the  worn  old  felt  hat  and  cor 
dially  extend  the  hand.  Every  man  is  ready  enough 
to  welcome  a  fellow  who  has  long  been  striving  to 
win  a  transfer  to  their  rolls,  and  yet  it  is  odd  how 
speedily  many  of  their  number  quit  the  group  gath 
ered  here  at  the  colonel's  camp-fire  and  cluster  about 
an  object  of  much  greater  interest.  A  dozen  yards 
away  are  two  trim  orderlies,  dismounted  and  holding 
their  own  horses  and  those  of  the  two  officers;  and 
it  is  the  sight  of  these  fat,  sleek,  beautifully-groomed 
sorrels,  such  marvellous  contrast  to  the  hundreds  of 
gaunt,  famished  steeds  herded  along  the  valley,  that 
bring  these  born  cavalrymen  in  admiring  throngs  about 
them. 

"Got  any  more  sorrels  like  these,  Blake?"  shouts 


xii  PRELUDE. 

Gregg  in  his  resounding  barytone.  u  Just  what  I  want 
for  my  troop  !" 

"  Ay,  marry,  that  we  have !  and  bays  for  Freeman 
and  chestnuts  for  Turner.  Kay's  been  parcelling  out 
their  paces  all  the  way  up,  and  every  mother's  son  of 
them  steps  like  a  four-year  old  and  shines  like  satin." 

"  That's  a  handsome  beast  you  have  there,  Mr.  Hol- 
lis,"  says  the  major,  nodding  approvingly  at  a  big, 
pawing  gray,  and  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets  old 
Stannard  steps  over  to  take  a  closer  look. 

"Yes,  sir,"  answers  Hollis,  glad  of  such  high  en 
dorsement  of  his  choice ;  "  I've  had  my  eye  on  him  a 
whole  year,  and  have  only  just  bought  him.  I  was 
riding  him  every  day  when  you  went  through.  I 
couldn't  live  without  just  so  much  horseback  exercise. 
It's  one  reason  why  I  transferred.  The  doctors  pre 
scribed  it  in  fact." 

"  Just  hear  that  galoot,  will  you?"  mutters  Blake, 
savagely,  between  his  teeth.  "  He  is  forever  prating 
about  his  health,  and  he's  as  sound  as  a  dollar." 

Half  a  dozen  men  look  up  in  sudden  surprise.  This 
is  a  new  trait  in  Blake.  Always  laughing, "ranting, 
poking  fun  at  anything  and  anybody,  they  are  all  ac 
customed  to  his  jibes,  but  not  to  such  evident  irrita 
bility.  It  is  utterly  unlike  him. 

"  Why,  everybody  has  spoken  so  cordially  of  Hollis, 
Blake,"  says  Captain  Turner,  after  an  instant  of  silence. 
"  Don't  you  like  him  ?" 

"Like  him?  Oh,  Lord,  yes  !  well  enough, — only 
he's  more  kinds  of  an  ass  than  I  ever  met  before,  and 
just  now  his  fad  seems  to  be  his  health.  He  has  bored 
Ray  and  me  almost  to  death  about  his  lymphatic  tern- 


PRELUDE.  xiii 

perament  and  what  the  doctors  tell  him.  The  young 
sters  have  dubbed  him  '  Lymph'  already,  but  he's  so 
dense  he  sees  no  ridicule  in  it.  What  ho,  bnlly  rook  !" 
he  shouts,  with  sudden  relapse  into  his  old  manner,  as 
he  steps  quickly  forward,  all  joviality  again,  to  greet 
Captain  Wayne,  who,  with  Wilkins  trailing  behind, 
comes  panting  up  the  slope.  "  What  are  these,  so  with 
ered,  and  so  wild  in  their  attire?" 

"  Did  you  bring  plenty  of  bays,  Legs  ?  I  want  to 
say  right  here  that  if  I  don't  get  first  choice  there'll 
be  a  row.'7 

"  Thou  Mars  of  malcontents  !  Listen  to  him  now," 
laughs  Blake.  "  Not  so  much  as  a  '  how  do  you  do  ?' 
for  me,  and  nothing  but  anxiety  for  horseflesh.  You 
old  hippophagist !  you've  been  living  on  it  long  enough 
this  summer  to  need  a  change." 

"  I  never  ate  a  mouthful  of  it,"  protests  Wayne, 
wrathfully.  "  I'd  sooner  eat  my  boots." 

"  Well,  what  did  you  live  on  ?  Have  you  been 
sucking  your  paws  like  a  hibernating  bear  ?" 

"  I've  lived  on  the  hope  of  seeing*my  troop  mounted 
on  new  horses,  nothing  else,"  says  Wayne,  throwing 
himself  down  on  the  turf.  "  Legs,  you  look  too  swell 
for  one  of  us.  I  don't  mean  your  legs,  man ;  when  I 
say  legs,  I  mean  you." 

"  Thou  dost  belie  me,  Wayne !  'Tis  but  the  com 
bined  effect  of  living  in  such  high  latitudes  and  on  such 
low  diet.  A  summer  in  Cheyenne,  with  such  compan 
ionship  as  ours,  would  physic  a  Falstaff.  Wait  till 
we're  back  in  Kansas  this  winter,  and  I'll  show  you  a 
pair  of  legs  Adonis  might  sigh  for." 

"A  what?"  asks  Mr.  Hollis,  blankly. 


xiv  PRELUDE. 

"  A  man  you  never  heard  of,  Tommy,"  answers 
Blake,  winking  significantly  at  Wayne.  "  He  was 
first  cousin  to  Antinous.  Another  stranger,  I  fancy. 
You  never  knew  Ann,  did  you,  Hollis?" 

"Not  that  I  know  of,"  says  Hollis.  "The  name 
doesn't  seem  familiar."  But  the  silence  in  the  group 
seems  to  give  him  an  inkling  that  Blake  is  guying 
him  again,  and  he  flushes  and  looks  uneasily  around. 
Blake  has  been  chaffing  him  more  or  less  all  the  way 
from  Cheyenne,  and  he  does  not  know  why.  There  is 
a  pained  expression  in  Truscott's  face  as  he  rises  and 
betakes  himself  to  where  the  colonel  is  seated  on  a 
stump,  conversing  with  his  staff-officers  a  few  paces 
away.  It  was  never  like  the  old  Blake  to  be  play 
ing  upon  the  innocence  or  ignorance  of  a  new-comer, 
and  Truscott  utterly  disapproves  of  anything  of  the 
kind. 

"  What  the  mischief  has  got  into  Legs  ?"  asks  Tur 
ner,  as  he  too  rises  and,  joining  Truscott,  strolls  away. 
"  Do  you  suppose  the  summer's  experiences  have  made 
him  crabbed?  I  always  heard  Hollis  was  not  over 
bright ;  but  it  isn't  like  Blake  to  be  showing  the  fellow 
up  in  this  savage  way." 

Truscott  shakes  his  head,  then  turns  back  and  calls 
to  the  new  officer,  who  seems  embarrassed  and  ill  at 
ease,  although  a  general  chat  has  begun  again.  "  Oh, 
Mr.  Hollis,  Captain  Turner  and  I  would  like  to  look 
at  your  gray.  Did  you  buy  him  in  Cheyenne?"  he 
hails,  in  cordial  tone.  And  Hollis's  eyes  brighten,  and 
he  gladly  joins  the  two  troop  commanders. 

"Yes,  captain,  yes;  I  think  I  got  him  at  a  good 
bargain,  too.  Mr.  Ray  finally  decided  me  to  take  him. 


PRELUDE.  XV 

I  believe  he  is  considered  as  good  a  judge  as  we  have 
in  the  —  th." 

"  Oh,  yes,  Ray  has  no  superior,"  answers  Truscott, 
pleasantly.  "  Whoa,  boy  !  let  me  look  at  your  hoof," 
he  says,  as  he  bends  down  and  picks  up  the  gray's  fore 
foot.  "  What  do  you  call  him,  Mr.  Hollis?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know  just  yet,  captain.  He  has 
always  been  Jim,  but  I  wanted  something  better, — 
something  descriptive,  you  know.  He  seems  too  big 
and  splendid  a  fellow  to  call  Jim.  I  wanted  some 
thing, — well,  classical  rather,  like  Bucephalus  or  Am- 
phitrite,  and  I  asked  Blake.  He  tells  me  to  name  him 
Lymphititis;  but  it  doesn't  seem  just  the  thing  some 
how." 

Truscott  bites  his  lip  and  bends  lower  over  the  hoof 
he  is  carefully  examining,  and  Turner  whirls  about  on 
his  heel.  Hollis,  narrowly  watching  both,  can  readily 
see  that  it  is  another  instance  of  Blake's  ridicule,  and 
he  thinks  it  too  bad  that  a  man  whom  he  is  so  dis 
posed  to  like  should  seem  to  take  every  opportunity  of 
shaming  him. 

"  Don't  mind  Blake's  nonsense,  Hollis,"  says  Trus 
cott,  kindly.  "  He  is  one  of  the  best  fellows  in  the 
regiment,  but  he  can  no  more  resist  his  propensity  to 
burlesque  everything  than  he  could  the  desire  to  stand 
by  you  if  anything  went  wrong.  You'll  get  to  know 
and  like  him  after  a  while." 

All  the  same,  Captain  Truscott  means  to  have  a  word 
on  the  subject  with  his  ranting  friend,  who  is  now  once 
more  exciting  the  merriment  of  the  throng  with  his 
quips  and  jibes.  It  has  always  been  one  of  the  un 
written  laws  of  the  — th  that  new-comers  among  the 


xvi  PRELUDE. 

officers  should  be  treated  with  every  courtesy  and  con 
sideration.  It  is  only  when  old  enough  to  fight  their 
own  battles  that  it  has  been  considered  admissible  to 
ventilate  their  various  foibles  and  weaknesses.  Blake's 
open  ridicule  of  Hollis,  therefore,  has  struck  discord 
antly  upon  the  senses  of  the  assembled  party,  and  he 
cannot  but  see  it.  For  the  time  being,  therefore,  he 
holds  his  shafts,  and,  linking  his  arm  in  that  of  his 
stanch  friend  and  troop  commander,  Freeman,  he  pres 
ently  strolls  away  to  visit  the  bivouacs  farther  down 
the  stream. 

Just  at  sunset  on  the  following  day,  and  in  a  valley 
deeper,  narrower,  more  romantic  than  that  in  which  the 
command  was  camped  at  dawn,  two  long  columns  of 
horse  have  halted  and  are  busily  unsaddling  and  pitch 
ing  their  tents  for  the  night.  The  column  from  the 
south  is  the  big  detachment  of  recruits  led  by  Lieuten 
ant  Ray,  and  around  him  the  officers  of  the  regiment 
gather  for  hours,  and  many  a  rough-looking  trooper, 
too,  has  hovered  about  until  he  could  catch  the  lieuten 
ant's  eye,  and  then,  encouraged  by  the  kindly  gleam  of 
recognition,  has  come  forward  to  salute  the  young  sol 
dier  whose  name  is  on  every  cavalryman's  lips  this 
night,  and  to  be  rewarded  by  a  cordial  shake  of  the 
hand.  It  is  late  in  the  cool,  star-lit  evening  before  most 
of  the  party  seek  their  blankets,  and  Stannard  and  Jack 
Truscott,  though  they  have  been  with  Ray  since  the  pre 
vious  afternoon, — having  ridden  forth  to  meet  him  at 
the  Gap, — are  among  the  last  to  go.  Blake's  voice  is 
heard  declaiming  a  general  good-night  to  the  — th  over 
among  the  tents,  and  his  elocution  just  now  is  of  that 
spasmodic  and  uncertain  character  which  must  be  ex- 


PRELUDE.  xvii 

pected  of  a  man  who  is  compelled  to  dodge  the  boots 
and  repel  the  insinuations  hurled  at  him  from  every 
tent-door  within  range.  It  is  true  that  the  — th  has 
had  to  eat  some  of  its  horses  to  keep  alive,  but  the 
regiment  is  sensitive  upon  the  subject,  and  Blake's 
effusion  is  conceded  to  be  even  worse  in  taste  than  the 
scanty  breakfasts  of  September.  But  he  rants  on  : 

"  Good-night,  I  have  to  say  good-night 
To  such  a  host  of  howling  swells. 
Good-night  unto  this  famished  band, 
All  scrawny  with 

"  Confound  you,  Wayne  !  Take  your  spurs  off  your 
boots  before  you  sling  them  at  me  again. 

"  Good-night  to  Freeman's  beauteous  bays, 
Good-night  to  chestnut  sorrels  dear, 
Good-night  unto  those  luscious  steaks 
And  all  the  feeders  nestled  here. 
This  jovial  band  detains  me?  then 
I'll  have  to  say  good-night  again." 

Groans  and  objurgations  come  from  every  side;  but 
he  persists : 

"  Sleep  well,  comrades  mine  ;  may  dreams  of  horse 
flesh  breed  no  nightmare.  Wilkins,  get  thee  to  bed. 
If  thou  venturest  forth  in  stocking  feet  again  thou'lt 
catch  thy  death  oj  cold.  Thou  art  more  than  half 
hoarse  now.  Thou'lt  be  a  living  chevaux-de-frise. 
Nay,  it  boots  not  what  you  sling,"  he  laughs,  as  he 
stoops  and  picks  up  the  nearest  foot-gear  and  hurls  it 
at  the  advancing  Wilkins.  "  A  thousand  more  mis 
chances  than  this  one  have  learned  me  how  to  brook 


xviii  PRELUDE. 

this  patiently.     List,  list,  oh,  list !"  he  declaims,  as  he 
backs  cautiously  away : 

"  Yet,  there  will  come  a  time,  my  lads, 
When,  if  I  read  our  stars  aright, 
You  will  not  care  for  tough  cheval 
Or  grass-fed  mule  ;  till  then  good-night. 
You  wish  that  time  were  here  ?  and  I ; 
You  do  not  blush  to  own  it's  so  ? 
Why,  you'd  have  rushed  yourselves  to  death 
For  such  a  feast  a  month  ago." 

But  here  a  dash  from  half  a  dozen  tents  and  a  volley 
of  boots  and  billingsgate  drives  the  disturber  of  the 
peace  from  camp,  and,  pursued  until  out  of  range  by 
missiles  of  every  imaginable  kind,  he  comes  laughing 
and  leaping  in  wildest  spirits  to  the  camp-fire  where 
Truscott,  Ray,  and  Stannard  are  still  chatting,  and 
throws  himself  panting  upon  his  buffalo-robe. 

"Upon  rny  soul,  Blake,  you're  more  of  a  ranter 
every  day  of  your  life,"  says  the  major.  "  We'll  have 
to  put  you  in  charge  of  the  post  theatre  at  Russell  this 
winter." 

"  At  Riley,  you  mean,  major !  Surely  we  go  back 
to  the  Kansas  stations  ?"  cries  Blake,  sitting  suddenly 
erect,  his  face  covering  instantly  with  a  shade  of  strange 
anxiety.  Ray  looks  up  in  surprise  at  the  total  and  sud 
den  change.  Truscott  lifts  his  eyes  from  the  letter  he 
has  been  reading  in  the  fire-light  and  turns  on  Blake  in 
manifest  concern. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  is  Stannard's  prompt  reply.  "  The 
general  told  me  yesterday  that  head-quarters  and  six 
troops  would  take  station  at  Russell  the  moment  the 
campaign  was  "over,  yours  among  them." 


PRELUDE.  xix 

For  one  moment  Blake  sits  there  as  though  stunned, 
then,  suddenly  recollecting  himself,  he  starts  to  his  feet. 

"  Where's  my  pipe  ?"  he  says,  nervously  ;  and,  with 
out  another  word,  goes  stalking  off  into  the  darkness 
down  the  valley.  For  a  moment  more  the  three 
friends  sit  looking  at  one  another.  It  is  Stannard 
who  first  finds  voice. 

"  Well !  what  on  earth  is  wrong  with  Blake  ?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

IT  had  been  blowing  hard  all  the  morning,  and  now, 
at  two  o'clock,  a  fierce  gale  was  sweeping  down  from 
the  mountain-pass  at  the  west,  whirling  the  shingles 
out  of  the  rickety  old  sheds  and  storehouses  and 
quarters  at  the  fort  and  sending  them  sailing  and  spin 
ning  over  the  bleak,  barren  prairie  that  spread  away 
towards  the  distant  roofs  of  the  frontier  city.  Out 
among  the  foot-hills  the  cattle  were  huddling  for 
shelter  down  in  the  deep  ravines.  The  jack-rabbits, 
with  their  long  ears  flattened  out  on  their  furry  backs, 
and  even  the  sentries  of  the  prairie-dog  village  had 
taken  refuge  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  The  herds  of 
troop  horses,  sent  out  after  morning  stables  for  a  day 
of  sunshine  and  fresh  air,  had  long  since  been  blown 
in  under  cover.  The  mules  in  the  corral,  down  in  the 
valley,  had  all  turned  tail  to  the  northwest,  and,  with 
lowered  fronts  and  every  hair  of  their  patchy  hides 
stuck  out  the  wrong  way,  stood  braced  against  the  gale 
in  mute  yet  emphatic  protest.  Up  at  the  guard-house 
the  tall  white  flag-staff  had  been  bending  like  a  trout- 
rod  until,  in  helpless  surrender  to  the  elements,  the  dot 

of  a  storm-flag  had  been  hauled  down ;  and  the  sentry 

7 


8  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

on  number  one,  blinded  and  battered  by  the  sand  and 
gravel  hurled  into  his  face,  had  been  drawn  inside. 

Over  the  broad  expanse  of  the  parade-ground,  from 
the  piazzas  on  officers'  row  to  the  big  brown  barracks 
of  the  men,  not  a  living  being  was  in  sight.  .Even  the 
colonel's  orderly,  who  usually  stood  in  statuesque  pose 
at  the  gate  or  paced  slowly  up  and  down  within  hail 
ing  distance  of  the  official  front  door,  had  been  given 
a  chair  within  the  hall- way,  and  sat  there  dozing  while 
the  colonel  took  his  own  siesta.  Over  at  the  adjutant's 
office  the  clerks  were  busily  writing,  occasionally  rising 
and  shaking*  out  the  big  muster-roils  or  post  returns 
on  which  they  were  at  work,  and  slashing  at  their 
grimy  desks  with  much  muttered  profanity,  striving  to 
rid  them  of  the  coat  of  sand  and  dust  that  came  sift 
ing  in  through  rattling  window-sash  or  the  chinks  and 
crooks  and  crannies  and  knot-holes  in  the  warped 
weather-boarding.  The  orderly  trumpeter,  with  his 
chair  tilted  back  against  the  wall,  was  glancing  every 
now  and  then  up  at  the  clock  and  then  at  the  grim  face 
of  the  sergeant-major.  It  was  almost  time  for  drill, 
and  the  colonel  had  not  yet  spoken.  Unless  the  order 
came  in  five  minutes  he  would  have  to  sound  the  call, 
and  then  the  whole  garrison  would  upbraid  him  as 
though  it  were  all  his  fault  instead  of  that  of  the  com 
manding  officer.  They  could  not  possibly  drill  in  such 
a  gale  :  why,  then,  sound  the  call  ?  Why  the  dickens 
could  not  the  colonel  make  up  his  mind  beforehand  in 
stead  of  waiting  until  the  last  moment  ?  Why,  indeed  ? 
Even  the  adjutant  could  not  answer  that  question.  It 
was  one  of  the  colonel's  idiosyncrasies,  was  the  sole  ex 
planation.  He  never  would  decide,  said  the  growlers, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  9 

whether  inspection  was  to  be  in  full  dress  or  fatigue, 
in  overcoats  or  blouses,  mounted  or  afoot,  until  ten 
minutes  before  the  time  for  first  call,  and  then,  like  as 
not,  those  men  who  had  dressed  in  full  uniform  were 
compelled  to  unbuckle,  uncord,  unbutton,  and  slip  out 
of  those  gaudy  garments  and  into  the  simple  blue,  all 
the  time  freeing  their  impressions  as  to  the  colonel's 
heartless  conduct.  And  those  officers,  mayhap,  who 
had  got  into  breeches,  boots,  and  spurs,  for  mounted 
duty,  would  have  to  peel  out  of  them  in  undignified 
haste  and  insert  their  nether  limbs  into  their  yellow- 
striped  trousers,  and  barely  escape  a  late  when  the  as 
sembly  rang  out  over  the  fretful  garrison.  These  were 
days  when  the  seventh,  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord,  was 
ushered  in  by  a  long  and  intricate  ceremony,  and  these 
were,  possibly,  experiences  that  led  to  subsequent  Con 
gressional  action  forbidding  the  principal  portion  there 
of.  At  all  events,  it  was  a  well-established  fact  that 
when  the  colonel  drove  away  town  ward  to  worship  and 
glorify  on  his  own  account  and  to  humble  himself,  in 
purely  perfunctory  style  of  course,  before  the  throne  of 
grace,  he  left  behind  him  a  battalion  of  miserable  sin 
ners  for  whom  the  peace  and  sanctity  that  should  sur 
round  the  day  was  irretrievably  wrecked,  and  whose 
rank  blasphemy  over  the  colonel's  vexatious  indecision 
was  something  past  praying  for. 

And  there  was  some  hard  swearing  going  on  down 
at  the  club-room,  at  the  store,  on  this  particularly  breezy 
afternoon.  There  were  most  of  the  bachelors  and  one 
or  two  of  the  benedicts  of  the  garrison  assembled, 
and  bets  were  even  as  to  whether  the  colonel  would 
have  drill-call  sounded  or  not.  One  and  all  had  agreed 


10    .  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

that,  drill  itself  being  an  impossibility  in  such  a  blast, 
it  was  simply  cruelty  to  make  officers  and  men  turn 
out  under  arms  and  answer  roll-call,  and  one  and  all 
were  disposed  to  lay  the  blame,  on  this  day  of  all 
others,  on  the  shoulders  of  Lieutenant  Hollis. 

"It's  all  your  doing,  you  wooden-headed  gabbler," 
shouted  the  tallest  and  lankiest  of  the  party,  lowering 
a  pair  of  lean,  long  legs  from  the  window-sill  to  the 
floor.  "  How  many  times  have  we  not  told  you  never 
to  go  and  suggest  a  thing  to  the  chief  if  you  wanted 
to  have  it  done?  Odds  boddikins !  man,  can  you 
never  learn  wisdom  with  examples  such  as  these?" 
And  Lieutenant  Blake  buried  his  long  moustache  in 
a  glass  of  beer  and  rose  to  his  full  height,  winking 
Weller-like  over  the  edge  of  the  can  at  his  circle  of 
associates. 

"  Oh,  come  now,  Blake,"  answered  Hollis,  unwilling 
to  be  the  victim  of  popular  obloquy,  "I  didn't  convey 
any  idea  to  him  whatever;  I  simply " 

"  Well  said,  mine  ancient.  Stop  right  there,  now, 
till  we  make  a  note  of  the  first  indication  of  awakening 
intellect  you've  shown  in  a  week.  Of  course  you 
didn't  convey  an  idea  to  him.  It  wouldn't  have  been 
you  if  you  had.  You  simply,  very  simply,  said — 
what?" 

"  Well,  that  I  supposed  if  it  blew  hard  there  would 
be  no  drill,  and  I  could  go  to  town.  I  thought  I 
could  gallop  in  right  after  that  Board  met,  don't  you 
know?" 

"  To  which  our  revered  leader  responded  in  so  many 
words  that  if  it  continued  to  blow  a  gale  at  two  thirty 
there  possibly  wouldn't,  and  that  time  alone  would 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  \\ 

tell.  Precisely  what  you  ought  to  have  had  sense 
enough  to  know  in  the  first  place.  Hollis,  you've 
had  enough  good  advice  from  me  to  make  most  young 
men  paragons  of  wisdom  and  discretion.  Thou'rt  a 

parlous  boy  !  And Zounds !  there  goes  drill-call 

now — Perdition  take  the  thing  !" 

"  For  goodness7  sake,  Blake,  shut  up,  or  we'll  never 
hear  recall,"  shouted  Mr.  Hunter,  as  he  made  a  lunge 
for  his  belt  and  sabre.  "Great  Scott!  Just  look  at 
that  trumpeter  !  He's  well-nigh  flattened  out  against 
the  band-stand.  There,  listen  !" 

Two  or  three  young  officers  had  started  for  the  door, 
but  were  promptly  adjured  not  to  open  it  unless  they 
wanted  the  club-room  blown  inside  out.  For  an  in 
stant  the  gale  seemed  to  howl  and  shriek  with  wrath 
at  its  brazen  rival,  and  the  boy  bugler  threw  an  arm 
around  a  post  of  the  stand  and  braced  himself  for 
another  blast.  This  time  he  was  greeted  with  a  sup 
pressed  cheer.  It  was  "  recall"  that  came  "  whistling 
down  the  wind," — the  soldier  signal  that  the  troops 
need  not  turn  out. 

"  Now,  why  couldn't  he  just  as  well  have  said  so 
three  or  four  hours  ago  instead  of  keeping  us  in  sus 
pense?  I  might  have  been  at  the  Terrys'  for  luncheon. 
Can't  you  let  me  off  stables,  captain  ?"  asked  Hollis, 
with  a  grin  on  his  good-natured  face. 

"  You  don't  mean  you  are  going  in  town  a  day  like 
this?"  said  Captain  Gregg,  in  amaze. 

"  Why  not?  There  are  those  young  ladies  from 
Detroit  at  Major  Thorp's.  I  haven't  called  yet,  and 
they  came  three  days  ago." 

"  Great  Caesar's  ghost,  Hollis  !     No  woman  on  earth 


12  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

would  expect  a  call  this  afternoon,  and  no  woman  wants 
a  caller  when  she  doesn't  expect  him,"  quoth  his  cap 
tain.  Other  officers,  too,  were  prompt  to  ridicule  the 
plan ;  but  Blake,  usually  the  most  declamatory  of 
men,  after  one  quick  glance  at  Hollis,  turned  suddenly 
away. 

"  Come,  Dana,  let's  have  a  game  of  pool,"  he  called 
aloud,  and  busied  himself  in  selecting  a  cue.  Three  or 
four  of  the  young  fellows  quickly  joined  him,  rejoicing 
in  their  unexpected  holiday.  Captain  Gregg  himself 
slowly  found  his  feet,  saying  a  little  exercise  was  what 
he  needed,  and  pool  would  supply  it.  There  had 
fallen  an  odd  sort  of  constraint  on  the  party. 

"How  are  you  going  in,  Hollis?"  was  presently 
asked.  "  You  won't  be  fit  to  be  seen  by  the  time  you 
get  there." 

"  Oh,  I'll  ride.  I  can  get  brushed  off  and  put  in 
shape  at  the  hotel.  Here's  Jim,  now,"  he  added ;  for 
at  the  moment  a  big  gray  horse,  lunging  and  switching 
about,  wrathful  at  being  led  forth  in  such  weather, 
came  cantering  under  the  lee  of  the  store,  and  a  young 
trooper  sprang  from  the  saddle  and  rubbed  his  eyes 
with  grimy  fist. 

"  You'll  never  get  back  this  night,  Hollis,  and,  in  my 
c/pinion,  have  no  business  to  go,"  said  Gregg,  gloomily. 
"  Of  course,  I  do  not  oppose  since  the  colonel  has  given 
permission,  but  he  gave  it  before  the  gale  began,  and 
doubtless  thinks  you  have  abandoned  the  idea  by  this 
time." 

"Oh,  I'll  get  back  somehow,"  was  the  laughing 
response.  "If  I  don't,  it  won't  be  Jim's  fault.  He 
has  faced  many  a  gale  as  stiff  as  this  before  you 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  15 

ever  came  here.  Good-by,  fellows ;  be  good  to 
yourselves." 

"By-by,  Hollis,"  was  the  careless,  half-laughing 
reply  of  one  or  two  of  the  group  now  gathering  about 
the  table.  Gregg  simply  looked  after  him,  half  per 
plexed.  Blake  turned  his  back  and  bored  savagely  at 
the  cube  of  chalk  with  the  cue  tip. 

There  was  a  wild  whistle  of  wind  the  instant  the 
door  was  opened,  a  slam,  and  Hollis  was  gone. 

For  a  few  moments  no  one  spoke.  No  man  in  that 
party  could  have  been  surprised  at  any  expedition  Hol 
lis  might  make  where  the  society  of  the  opposite  sex 
was  the  object  in  view.  He  had  been  only  a  short  time 
in  the  — th,  transferred  thither  from  another  corps  after 
a  campaign  that  had  brought  about  some  vacancies  on 
the  muster-roll.  He  had  been  stationed  in  the  fort 
over  a  year,  and,  being  a  most  determined  society  man, 
was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  desirable  people 
in  the  neighborhood  when  his  new  comrades  arrived  at 
the  post  comparative  strangers.  He  was  brimful  of 
life,  energy,  and  animal  spirits ;  a  fair  rider,  a  jolly, 
good-natured  companion,  a  most  accomplished  dancer, 
and  leader  in  all  social  entertainments ;  but  life  to  him 
seemed  vested  with  no  higher  objects  than  those  in 
volved  in  "  germans,"  parties,  and  private  theatricals. 
Military  duty  was  a  necessary  evil,  grudgingly  per 
formed  and  more  frequently  slighted  that  social  duties 
might  have  his  utmost  time.  He  was  the  despair  of 
the  regimental  adjutant,  who  found  errors  in  every  kind 
of  paper  Hollis  was  compelled  to  submit ;  the  tolera 
tion  of  his  good-natured  captain,  because  Mrs.  Gregg 
would  not  allow  a  word  to  be  said  against  her  second 

2 


14  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

lieutenant,  and  the  exasperation  of  his  colonel,  who,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  had  sent  couriers  racing  town- 
ward  after  him,  with  orders  to  come  back  at  once,  and, 
amazed  but  indomitably  smiling,  he  would  return,  to 
catch  a  rasping  for  some  carelessly-executed  piece  of 
work,  and  yet  was  so  apologetic  and  regretful  that  the 
colonel  himself  would  feel  disarmed,  and  the  adjutant 
would  turn  to  and  straighten  out  the  papers  for  him. 
Everybody  liked  Hollis,  in  town  and  at  the  fort.  The 
ladies  of  the  — th  were  enraptured  with  him  wheu 
they  arrived,  for  he  was  among  the  first  to  call  and 
bid  them  welcome.  He  was  always  proposing  hops, 
dances,  picnics, — something  delightful  for  their  enter 
tainment, — and  as  most  of  the  ladies  of  the  regiment 
were  young  and  attractive,  some  of  them  radiant  beau 
ties,  and  all  of  them  fond,  more  or  less,  of  attention 
and  the  many  bright  phases  of  garrison  life,  Mr. 
Hollis  was  a  recruit  worth  having.  Several  of  the 
ladies,  too,  had  decided  to  send  for  unmarried  sisters  or 
relatives,  and  give  them  an  idea  of  army  life  on  the 
far  frontier,  and  the  — th  was  rather  short  of  bachelors. 
Two  of  their  array  had  been  seriously  wounded  during 
the  summer  campaign,  and  were  off  the  dancing-list  for 
the  time  being.  Another,  one  of  the  best  partners  in 
the  days  gone  by,  had  fallen  deeply  in  love  with  a 
girl  who  had  just  returned  to  the  East,  and  was  re 
ported  engaged  to  her  after  a  brief  but  romantic  court 
ship  that  everybody  in  the  regiment  was  eagerly  talk- 
lag  of  except  those  best  informed  in  the  matter.  And 
so,  with  Dana  and  Hunter  off  the  dancing-list,  and 
Ray  in  love  and,  as  they  said,  "  reformed,"  the  — th 
indeed  needed  young  blood,  declared  the  ladies.  True, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  15 

there  were  four  or  five  admirable  fellows  among  the 
subalterns, — Clark,  the  new  quartermaster,  Royce, 
Webster,  and  even  "  Daddy-long-legs/7  as  some  of 
them  disdainfully  called  Blake,  were  all  good  dancers 
and  excellent  partners.  "  Still,  they  are  not  quite  so 
enthusiastic,  you  know,"  said  Mrs.  Turner.  "  Poor 
Mr.  Blake  is  so  blase  and  superior,  and  Mr.  Clark  is  so 
dreadfully  impartial."  And  Mrs.  Turner  was  an  au 
thority  on  social  questions  with  the  — th,  and  had  been 
so  for  years,  only  this  much  of  the  statement  she  did 
not  relish  hearing.  Many  of  the  married  officers  were 
good  dancers,  too  ;  "  Still,  that  wasn't  quite — at  least  it 
didn't  seem — the  same  as  having  plenty  of  bachelors," 
exclaimed  another  regimental  belle.  Altogether,  be 
tween  the  extensive  acquaintance  he  had  among  the 
local  dames  and  damsels  and  his  undoubted  popularity, 
Mr.  Hollis  was  certainly  in  metaphorical  clover  at  the 
outset  of  the  bitter  winter  that  settled  down  on  the 
Rockies  that  ever  memorable  year. 

"  And  yet,"  said  Mr.  Blake,  only  a  few  days  be 
fore,  "if  there's  a  possible  chance  for  Tommy  Hollis 
to  put  his  foot  in  it,  you  can  bet  your  last  cent  he'll 
do  it." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  there  was  not  a  little  to 
inspire  Mr.  Blake  in  this  gloomy  prophecy.  Tommy 
was  the  hero  of  half  a  dozen  exploits,  both  exasper 
ating  and  absurd,  over  which  his  new  comrades  of  the 
— th  had  alternately  laughed  and  sworn  until  almost 
any  other  man  would  have  been  moved  to  more  dis 
cretion.  But  Hollis  seemed  indomitably  bent  on  ful 
filling  Blake's  prediction.  It  was  he  who  induced  the 
ladies  of  his  former  regiment  to  give  a  complimentary 


16  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

hop  to  the  officers  of  the  — th  as  they  camped  for  a 
few  days  on  the  open  prairie  en  route  to  the  Indian 
country;  charged  himself  with  the  duty  of  delivering 
the  invitations;  reported  that  his  mission  was  fulfilled, 
and  then  expressed  boundless  amaze  when  the  hop 
came  off  and  not  a  man  of  the  — th  appeared.  The 
ladies  of  the  garrison  did  not  cease  talking  of  that  un 
paralleled  piece  of  rudeness  for  months  after.  Then 
at  last,  when  the  matter  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
that  much-maligned  regiment,  it  transpired  that  Tommy 
had  indeed  ridden  over  to  camp  and  told  the  adjutant 
and  one  or  two  of  the  officers  that  there  was  to  be  a 
little  dance  at  the  fort  that  night,  and  invited  them  to 
be  present ;  was  informed  that  not  a  man  could  come, 
as  they  had  nothing  but  scouting  rig  to  wear,  to  which 
he  promptly  replied  that  that  made  no  difference  what 
ever,  as  it  was  purely  an  informal  affair,  and  rode  away 
very  possibly  believing  that,  despite  their  regrets,  the 
— th  would  attend.  Not  one  word  was  said  of  its 
being  a  party  given  in  their  honor  by  the  ladies  of  the 
fort,  and  the  — th  could  have  mobbed  him  when  the 
truth  came  out. 

Then  it  was  Hollis  who  rode  far  and  wide  through 
town  the  day  after  the  regiment  returned  from  the 
campaign,  ragged,  bearded,  unkempt,  and  invited 
scores  of  his  friends  to  come  out  to  the  fort  to  meet 
them  all  at  a  hop  on  the  following  night.  That  there 
could  be  any  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  — th  never 
occurred  to  him  for  one  instant,  and  he  was  amazed  at 
the  reception  accorded  him  when  he  appeared  at  the 
camp  and  smilingly  announced  that  all  the  nice  people 
in  town  would  be  with  them  the  next  evening. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  17 

"  Man  alive !  didn't  you  know  that  not  a  soul  of  us 
has  any  clothes  here  except  the  rags  on  his  back  ?" 
was  the  first  remark  that  greeted  him.  He  had  totally 
forgotten  that  the  regiment  came  to  the  department 
equipped  for  field  service  only,  and  that  all  personal 
baggage  was  miles  and  miles  away.  So  poor  Tommy 
galloped  around  town  again,  recalling  his  invitations 
all  the  next  day,  and  yet  learned  nothing  by  experi 
ence.  Two  weeks  later  he  induced  a  number  of  the 
bachelors  to  "chip  in"  and  give  a  dinner  to  a  dis 
tinguished  officer  going  East  on  leave,  and,  as  he 
thoroughly  knew  the  town,  undertook  all  arrangements, 
which  were  complete  as  far  as  the  banquet  was  con 
cerned,  and  everybody  thought  Hollis  had  done  capi 
tally  until  they  assembled  en  grande  tenue  to  do  honor 
to  their  guest, — who  had  departed  on  the  afternoon 
train  for  the  East  that  very  day,  totally  ignorant  of  the 
feast  that  had  been  in  store  for  him.  The  chaffing 
Hollis  had  to  undergo  for  this  performance  would  have 
made  a  sensitive  man  simply  rabid.  But  the  ladies 
of  the  — th  were  beginning  to  arrive  and  take  posses 
sion  of  their  new  abiding-places  out  at  the  fort,  and  he 
found  consolation  in  the  joy  with  which  they  welcomed 
his  enthusiastic  aid  in  fitting  up  parlors,  hanging  cur 
tains  and  pictures,  and  making  himself  successively 
useful  to  more  than  half  their  number.  "  Did  you 
ever  know  a  nicer  fellow?"  "Isn't  he  just  too  kind 
and  helpful  for  anything?"  "What  a  delightful  acqui 
sition  !"  These  and  similar  feminine  explosives  were 
dinned  in  the  ears  of  the  other  men  until  Hollis  was 
rechristened  "Helpful  Tommy,"  and  solemnly  pro 
claimed  an  enemy  to  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the 


18  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

bachelor  mess.  But  he  could  afford  it  all,  for  the 
women  were  entirely  his  friends. 

And  then  Mrs.  Granger  returned  from  a  summer  at 
the  sea-shore,  and  the  tide  began  to  turn. 

She  was  a  stranger  to  the  ladies  of  the  — th,  but  not 
to  the  old  fort  and  its  neighborhood.  She  was  the 
wife  of  an  officer  of  the  supply  department,  a  daz- 
zlingly  handsome  woman,  who  for  two  years  had 
queened  it  in  the  garrison  despite  the  fact  that  she  did 
not  live  there  at  all.  Her  home  was  at  the  quarter 
master's  depot,  over  by  the  railway,  and  much  nearer 
town,  but  no  party,  no  dinner,  no  theatricals,  no  social 
affair  of  any  kind  was  a  success  in  the  garrison  unless 
graced  by  her  presence.  In  years  she  was  much 
younger  than  her  husband.  Major  Granger  was  a  man 
engrossed  in  his  duties  and  in  the  art  of  making- 
money.  He  had  property  interests  all  over  the  West, 
and  they  absorbed  his  whole  time  and  attention.  He 
had  one  fondness, — whist,  which  his  wife  despised. 
She  had  several  fondnesses, — and  he  was  none  of  them. 
He  enjoyed  an  evening  at  the  fort  because  it  gave  him 
several  hours  with  the  older  officers  and  his  beloved 
rubber.  She  rejoiced  in  her  evenings  there,  as  they 
gave  her  hours  with  the  younger  officers  and  the  de 
lightful  dance.  He  was  growing  bald  and  portly. 
She  had  lost  not  a  hair  of  her  queenly  head,  nor 
gained  an  ounce  in  weight.  People  from  town  coming 
to  call  on  the  ladies  of  the  new  regiment  invariably 
asked  if  they  had  ever  met  Mrs.  Granger;  and  the 
ladies  were  not  slow  to  note  that  of  all  their  sex  who 
had  been  prominent  in  local  society  during  the  few 
years  previous,  no  one  had  made  so  deep  an  impression 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  19 

as  the  wife  of  this  solemn,  spectacled  major  who  so 
punctiliously  called  to  pay  his  respects  on  their  arrival 
and  to  assure  them  how  glad  Mrs.  Granger  would  be 
to  meet  them  on  her  return.  Naturally,  in  comparing 
notes,  the  new  arrivals  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Mrs.  Granger  had  been  the  avowed  leader  in  all  social 
affairs  for  some  time  past,  and  the  question  that 
promptly  occurred  to  Mrs.  Turner  and  her  cronies  was 
whether  she  would  expect  to  resume  her  queendom  now 
that  the — th  had  come;  and  the  ladies  of  the  — th 
had  good  reason  to  feel  that,  in  view  of  their  many 
triumphs  in  the  past,  Mrs.  Granger  might  find  the 
throne  and  sceptre  less  attainable  than  before. 

By  the  time  they  had  been  settled  three  weeks  every 
woman  in  the  — th  was  very  curious  to  see  Mrs. 
Granger.  Many  of  them  had  begun  to  question  Mr. 
Hollis  about  her.  Some  of  them  had  already  begun 
to  decide  that  his  enthusiastic  praise  of  that  lady  was 
sufficient  to  depose  him  from  his  high  station  in  their 
regard.  And  then  she  came,  and  called,  and  conquered. 
Her  grace  of  manner,  her  frank  cordiality,  her  un 
affected  pleasure  in  meeting  the  ladies  of  the  — th,  of 
whom  she  had  heard  so  very,  very  much  that  was 
pleasant ;  her  semi-confidential,  yet  most  guarded,  in 
formation  that  their  predecessors  at  the  fort  had  been, 
oh,  everything  that  was  nice  and  good,  but  still — don't 
you  know? — there  was  something  lacking, — that  in 
definable  something  that  only  birth,  education,  and 
social  position  can  give;  "and  it  is  so  different 
where  the  — th  is  concerned.'7  Now,  as  most  of  the 
matrons  of  the  regiment  had  been  prominent  in  social 
circles  in  Eastern  or  Southern  cities ;  as  many  of  them 


20  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

had  been  educated  in  the  finest  finishing  schools  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  or  else  abroad,  and  as 
they  had  reason  to  pride  themselves  on  their  antece 
dents,  Mrs.  Granger's  prompt  discovery  and  equally 
prompt  recognition  of  these  claims  to  pre-eminence  fell 
soothingly  upon  their  ears.  A  woman  who  wore  such 
lovely  toilets,  who  was  wealthy,  and  who  knew  "  what 
was  what,"  as  Mrs.  Turner  deftly  expressed  it,  could 
not  fail  to  be  a  welcome  addition  to  their  set.  Mrs. 
Turner,  indeed,  was  quite  put  out  because  Mrs.  Stan- 
nard  and  Mrs.  Truscott  did  not  at  once  chime  in  with 
her  views.  The  former,  well  versed  in  such  matters 
and  in  the  study  of  man  and  womankind,  had  received 
Mrs.  Granger's  advances  with  all  courtesy,  yet  re 
served  her  opinion  for  the  ears  of  her  lord, — the  gruff, 
but  beloved  major  of  the  regiment.  Mrs.  Truscott, 
wrapped  up  in  her  stalwart  husband  and  her  joy  of  a 
baby,  was  not  disposed  to  like  any  woman  who  sought 
the  attentions  of  the  other  sex,  and  everybody  had 
heard  of  Mrs.  Granger's  being  the  recipient  of  much 
homage  from  all  the  officers  stationed  there  during  the 
previous  year,  all  of  whom  now  were  gone  but  Mr. 
Hollis. 

One  odd  thing  had  happened  the  day  she  drove  out 
to  the  fort  in  her  stylish  landau,  wrapped  in  robes  and 
seal-skins,  for  the  air  of  early  December  was  sharply 
cold,  though  the  snow  lay  only  in  patches  on  the  prairie. 
Captain  Truscott,  Lieutenants  Ray,  Blake,  and  the  ad 
jutant  had  all  been  with  Major  Stannard  in  his  den, 
and  busy  with  the  map  of  the  late  campaign,  while 
Mrs.  Stannard  was  entertaining  visitors  in  the  parlor. 
Stable-call  sounded.  It  was  time  for  them  to  go. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  21 

Blake  had  been  in  the  wildest  spirits,  chatting,  laugh 
ing,  and  spouting  Shakespeare,  as  was  his  wont  when  in 
jolly  mood.  The  major  led  his  friends  through  the 
dining-room  to  the  parlor  just  as  the  servant  ushered 
in  two  ladies.  Presentations  were  necessary.  Mrs. 
Granger  beamed  with  cordiality  upon  the  major  and 
Captain  Truscott,  and  then  the  long  lashes  swept  her 
downy  cheek  as  she  extended  a  daintily-gloved  hand  to 
Mr.  Blake. 

"It  is  so  pleasant  to  meet  old  friends  again,"  she 
said,  then  raised  her  lovely  gray  eyes  and  looked 
straight  into  his ;  and  Blake,  with  white  face  and 
twitching  lips,  had  merely  bowed  low,  said  some  inar 
ticulate  words,  and  left  the  room. 

"  Have  you  known  Mr.  Blake  long  ?"  was  the  not 
unnatural  question. 

"  Oh,  we  were  great  friends  once  upon  a  time, — long 
ago." 

And  was  this,  then,  the  explanation  of  Blake's  long 
bachelorhood  ?  Was  it  for  her  sake  he  still  wore  the 
willow  ?  Not  a  man  nor  a  woman  in  the  regiment  up  to 
this  moment  dreamed  that  he  had  ever  even  met  Mrs. 
Granger  before.  But  Mrs.  Raymond  was  present 
at  this  meeting,  and  Mrs.  Raymond  was  a  woman  who 
never  kept  an  idea  to  herself.  Sooner  or  later  every 
body  had  heard  of  the  sudden  change  in  Blake's  man 
ner  on  meeting  Mrs.  Granger.  Some  of  the  youngsters 
had  been  talking  of  it  at  the  store  this  very  afternoon 
before  he  and  Hollis  had  happened  in.  And  now,  as 
the  gale  and  the  game  continued,  here  he  was  again, 
silent  and  absent-minded.  It  was  Blake's  turn  to 
play. 


22  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Come,  Legs,"  called  Dana,  "  what  are  you  moon 
ing  there  by  the  window  for?"  And  Blake  started, 
shook  himself  together,  aimed  for  a  simple  shot,  and 
missed. 

Tramping  down  to  stables  that  afternoon,  Gregg 
took  the  tall  lieutenant's  arm  as  they  wrapped  their 
heavy  coats  about  them  and  struggled  along  in  the  lee 
of  the  storehouses. 

"  Blake,  didn't  Granger  go  up  to  Sherman  yesterday 
as  witness  on  that  court,  or  at  least  this  morning  ?" 

"  How  should  I  know  ?"  was  the  curt  answer. 

"  Yet  you  know  it  is  there  and  not  to  town  that 
Hollis  has  gone.  I  know  it  without  looking." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  lamps  were  lighted  in  the  club-room  and  store 
by  the  time  the  men  came  marching  back  from  stables, 
fairly  towing  one  another  up  in  the  teeth  of  the  gale. 
It  was  sharply  cold,  and  every  now  and  then  angry 
spits  of  snow  would  strike  upon  the  cheek,  hard  and 
stinging  as  small  shot.  The  colonel  had  noted  the 
absence  of  Mr.  Hollis,  as  Captain  Gregg  fully  desired 
he  should  do.  He  wanted  his  subaltern  brought  up 
with  a  round  turn,  but,  like  other  weak  men  in  or  out 
of  the  army,  preferred  that  some  one  else  should  do  the 
disagreeable  part  of  the  work  for  him.  He  was  actually 
disappointed  when  the  colonel  coolly  said, — 

"  Yes,  I  did  give  him  permission  to  go  to  town,  and 
it  is  my  fault.  We  could  hardly  expect  him  to  get 
back  in  the  face  of  such  a  storm." 

Gregg  said  no  more,  but  kept  up  a  good  deal  of 
thinking.  If  Blake  would  only  take  the  matter  up 
now; — but  Blake  wouldn't;  Blake  shook  him  off  the 
moment  he  attempted  to  speak  of  it,  and  even  angrily 
turned  his  back  on  him.  Gregg  was  much  perplexed.  It 
may  have  been  all  very  well  for  a  bachelor  officer  to  be 
devoting  himself  to  the  handsome  wife  of  an  absent  com 
rade  a  year  ago,  before  the  — th  came  to  the  garrison, 
but  "this  was  something,"  said  Gregg,  "the  — th 
wouldn't  stand."  The  fact  that  it  had  had  to  stand  it 


24  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

on  cue  or  two  occasions  in  the  past  was  exactly  what 
made  the  colonel  dead  set  against  it  now.  There 
should  be  no  scandal  in  the  regiment  he  commanded, 
said  the  chief,  and  Gregg  really  thought  he  ought  to 
know  that  it  was  garrison  chat  that  all  last  year  Mr. 
Hollis  had  been  an  adorer  of  Mrs.  Granger's,  and  that 
now  he  was  beginning  again  the  moment  of  her  return, 
and  this  day,  when  her  husband  was  away.  Still  he 
hated  to  be  the  means  of  starting  a  story  of  any  kind. 
He  wished  the  colonel  could  see  without  being  told. 
He  wondered  the  colonel  had  not  been  told,  since  the 
ladies  very  generally  heard  or  saw  all  that  was  going 
on.  Then  it  suddenly  flashed  upon  him  that  Mrs. 
Granger  had  been  most  attentive  to  her  ladyship,  the 
colonel's  wife,  driving  her  about  in  the  stylish  landau, 
sending  her  flowers  from  her  little  conservatory,  giving 
her  a  luncheon  at  the  depot  just  to  meet  some  of  the 
nicest  people  in  town  ;  and  for  the  week  or  ten  days  that 
followed  her  home-coming,  Mrs.  Granger  this  and  Mrs. 
Granger  that  was  the  glowing  theme  of  Mrs.  Ather- 
ton's  discourse.  Mrs.  Granger  had  entertained  her 
delightfully;  was  a  most  charming,  superior,  educated 
woman.  How  she  wished  she  could  transfer  into  Ours. 
A  few  such  women  would  do  more  to  form  it  than  any 
thing  else.  And  this  sort  of  talk  made  some  of  the 
regimental  ladies  wince.  They  did  not  at  all  like  it 
that  their  social  head  should  consider  them  in  need  of 
forming,  and  Mrs.  Gregg  and  Mrs.  Turner  were  de 
cidedly  indignant,  while  Mrs.  Wilkins — an  indomita 
ble  matron,  always  at  war  with  every  colonel's  wife — 
declared  it  was  "simply  abominable"  on  her  ladyship's 
part.  She  would  have  Mrs.  Atherton  know  that  "  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  25 

ladies  of  the  — th  were  not  to  be  led  by  the  likes  of — 
well,  by  ladies  like  Mrs.  Granger,  with  all  her  landaus 
and  luncheons."  Indeed,  there  were  frequent  symp 
toms  of  insubordination,  all  on  account  of  the  growing 
tendency  to  quote  Mrs.  Granger  on  every  occasion, 
when  the  change  came  that  made  them  once  again  a 
united  sisterhood. 

After  buffeting  their  way 'half- way  back  to  quarters 
on  such  a  bitter  evening  and  in  face  of  such  a  blast, 
what  was  more  natural  than  that  the  officers — a  num 
ber  at  least — should  drop  in  at  the  cheerily-lighted  club- 
room  and  take  a  rest,  or  its  equivalent.  The  colonel, 
with  old  Stannard  and  three  or  four  seniors,  pushed  on 
up  the  walk,  bending  nearly  double  to  oppose  the  gale  ; 
but  Gregg  wanted  a  word  with  Blake,  who  had  plainly 
avoided  him,  and  whose  long  legs  had  borne  him  well 
ahead  of  the  whole  array  the  moment  the  stable  duty 
was  over.  Four  or  five  young  infantrymen  were 
sprawled  about  the  room  as  their  comrades  of  the 
cavalry  came  blustering  in,  whipping  off  fur  gloves 
and  caps,  and  thrashing  about  with  their  arms  in  their 
attempt  to  restore  circulation  at  their  fingers'  ends. 
These  looked  up  and  hailed  the  first  comer  with  eager 
delight,  for  no  man  in  the  — th  was  much  more  popu 
lar  than  "  Leggy  Blake."  Ordinarily  the  most  jovial 
and  companionable  soul,  the  tall  lieutenant  seemed 
wrapped  in  gloom,  and  only  nodded  in  response  to 
their  laughing  hails  as  he  crossed  the  room  and  stood 
at  the  little  bar. 

"  By   Jove!    we're    defrauded,    fellows,"    gleefully 
shouted   Mr.  Ross,  of  the  Riflers.     "  Pie's  heard  the 
news  :  look  at  his  face." 
B  3 


26  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"What  news?"  was  the  sharp  response,  as  Blake 
turned  promptly  upon  them.  "  What  do  you  mean  ?" 

For  a  moment  none  could  speak.  The  opening  of 
the  outer  door  was  accompanied  by  another  shriek  and 
rush  of  the  gale  that  set  the  newspapers  whirling  off 
the  centre-table  and  rattling  about  the  sanded  floor. 
Half  a  dozen  of  the  cavalry  crowd  had  entered  by 
this  time,  and  all  heard  the  sudden  snap  in  Blake's 
tone. 

"  Well-1,"  said  Ross,  slowly,  "  I'll  have  to  answer 
you  Yankee  fashion.  Who  do  you  suppose  is  elected 
to  lead  the  ladies'  german  ?" 

"  Oh,  Ray,  or  Clark,  or  almost  anybody,"  said 
Blake,  indifferently,  and  turned  back  to  the  bar,  level 
ling  a  significant  finger  at  a  big  decanter. 

"  Metheglin,  thou  menial,  and  prithee  haste 

Have  a  nip,  Dana?  'Tis  a  nipping  and  an  eager  air 
without." 

"  Who  do  you  say,  Dana,  or  you,  Hunter?"  persisted 
Ross,  with  mischief  dancing  in  his  eyes. 

"  Can't  guess,  if  it  isn't  Ray  or  Clark  or  '  Legs' 
here.  Who?"  And  the  young  gentlemen  looked 
oddly  interested. 

"  Tommy  Hollis,  begad  !  late  of  the  Fortieth  Foot. 
What  have  you  fellows  been  doing  that  your  ladies 
should  give  you  all  the  go-by  and  pick  out  a  raw 
recruit, — an  ex-doughboy  at  that?" 

Blake  turned  slowly  about  in  the  very  act  of  pour 
ing  out  a  moderate  tipple,  looking  at  Ross  as  though 
hardly  credulous.  Dana  glanced  quickly  at  his  tall 
associate,  and  contented  himself  with  a  low  whistle. 
Hunter  turned  away,  and  intimated  that  he,  too, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  27 

wouldn't  mind  joining  Blake  if  properly  approached. 
The  others  burst  out  laughing. 

For  several  days  the  ladies  of  the  — th  had  been 
deep  in  preparation  for  a  hop  that  was  to  eclipse  any 
thing  yet  given  at  the  fort.  There  had  been  two  or 
three  very  enjoyable  little  parties  :  one  tendered  by  the 
infantry  to  the  new  arrivals ;  another  by  the  garrison 
bachelors  to  the  ladies  of  both  regiments  and  those  in 
town  ;  a  third  by  the  officers  of  the  — th.  But  now 
the  ladies  of  that  redoubtable  corps  proposed  having 
the  finest  of  all, — a  german  that  would  open  the  eyes 
of  the  entire  neighborhood ;  that  would  be  charmingly 
managed ;  that  was  to  outshine  all  previous  affairs  in 
the  beauty  of  the  decorations,  the  prodigality  of  the 
supper,  and  the  elegance  of  the  favors.  A  general 
court-martial  for  the  settlement  of  a  difference  between 
two  officers  of  very  high  rank,  being  in  session  in  town, 
there  were  gathered  in  the  neighborhood  a  large  num 
ber  of  the  field  and  staff.  There  was  every  reason 
why  the  "  ladies'  german" — as  it  began  to  be  spoken 
of — should  attain  proportions  never  yet  attempted  at 
the  fort,  for  its  splendor  would  be  heralded  far  and 
wide  throughout  the  whole  military  division,  as,  either 
on  the  detail  of  the  court  or  the  witnesses  summoned 
before  it,  nearly  all  the  larger  posts  were  represented. 
When  originally  conceived  a  much  less  ambitious  pro 
gramme  had  been  decided  upon  ;  but  in  some  way  or 
other  every  day  added  to  the  items,  and  not  a  few  of 
the  benedicts  began  to  pull  on  long  faces  as  their  better 
halves  detailed  with  voluble  tongue  the  results  of  the 
latest  conference.  It  was  too  late  to  retreat,  however ; 
they  were  in  for  it  and  had  to  see  it  through. 


28  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

That  the  meetings  held  by  the  fair  projectors  of  the 
scheme  were  entirely  harmonious,  and  that  the  views 
of  the  various  dames  and  damsels  called  into  congress 
were  all  of  accord,  no  one  could  truthfully  assert.     Mr. 
Billings,  the  adjutant,  could  not  help  noting  the  flushed 
faces,  the  compressed  lips,  and  the  high-tossing  heads 
of  some  of  the  members  thereof  as  they  came  forth 
from  their  consultation,  and  had  only  a  very  distant 
and  absent-minded  nod  for  him  as  he  hastened  by  on  his 
way  to  the  office.     Despite  resolutions  of  secrecy  and 
a  determination  to  surround  the  proceedings  with   a 
degree  of  mystery  almost  equal  to  that  which  hedgeth 
those  of  the  court,  there  were  occasional  verbal  out- 
croppings, — those  spats  of  straw  which  told  the  way 
the  wind  was    blowing, — over  which    unfeeling   hus 
bands  later  on  chuckled  not  a  little  when  comparing 
notes.    But  one  thing  was  certain  :  the  ladies  meant  to 
manage  this  affair  themselves;  conduct  all  its  business  ; 
superintend  the  floor- waxing,  the  decorations,  the  music, 
the  preparations  for  supper,  the  sideboard,  punch-bowl, 
the  invitations,  the  favors,  even  the  arrangements  for 
caring  for  the  teams  and  drivers  from  town.    It  was  to 
be  the  "ladies'  german"  in  all  that  the  name  implied, 
and   no  woman   not  of  the  — th,  and  no  man  what 
soever,  was  to  be  called  into  consultation.     "  We  just 
mean   to  run   it  ourselves,  and  stand   or  fall  on  the 
result,"  said  the  spirited  matron  at  the  head  of  the 
committee  of  ways  and   means,  "and  you   men   can 
chuckle  as  much  as  you  like."  .It  was  true  that  in  de 
ciding    upon    the  eligibility  for  invitation  of  certain 
of  the  towns-people,  the  young  matrons   having  that 
matter  in  charge  found  themselves  compelled  to  con- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  29 

suit  the  sisterhood  of  the  Riflers,  and  received  the  vary 
ing  opinions  that  were  to  be  expected.  It  was  even 
rumored  that  they  had  gone  so  far  as  to  ask  Mr. 
Hollis,  in  strict  confidence,  for  his  views  upon  the  Mc- 
Guffys  and  the  O'Gradys,  and,  receiving  his  cordial 
endorsement,  these  very  worthy  but  somewhat  un 
tutored  families  were  duly  included  in  the  list,  where 
at  the  ladies  in  some  households  in  town  elevated  their 
eyebrows  and  gave  utterance  to  expressions  not  alto 
gether  complimentary  to  the  discrimination  of  the  — th. 
It  is  even  possible  that,  had  there  been  a  little  more 
time,  civil  war  would  have  broken  out  in  garrison,  for 
it  was  known  that  a  strong  minority  had  dissented 
radically  from  the  views  of  the  leaders.  But  better 
counsels  kept  open  rupture  in  check,  and,  so  far  as  the 
outer  world  was  concerned,  all  seemed  going  "  merry 
as  a  marriage  bell,"  until  the  discovery  was  made  that 
in  one  thing,  at  least,  they  must  call  for  the  services 
of  a  man.  Whoever  heard  of  a  german  without  a 
leader  ? 

The  grand  affair  was  to  come  off  on  Thursday  night. 
Everything  had  been  settled  except  the  name  of  their 
leader.  The  meeting  held  on  Saturday  afternoon  at 
the  colonel's  quarters  was  momentous  and  not  entirely 
devoid  of  spirited  controversy.  Some  of  the  ladies 
did  not  attend  it  at  all,  alleging  good  and  sufficient 
reasons,  for  the  possession  of  which  they  were  not  un 
thankful.  The  selection  of  a  leader  had  been  finally 
left  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  composed  of  three 
ladies  who  had  been  most  prominent  in  the  movement, 
and  it  was  known  that  they  had  had  a  conference  on 
Sunday  evening,  when,  as  we  all  concede,  other  matters 

8* 


30  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

supposedly  had  engrossed  their  thoughts.  That  the 
result  of  their  deliberation  was  not  one  which  they 
themselves  desired  to  announce  to  the  regiment  may  be 
derived  from  the  fact  that  it  was  through  the  Riflers, 
and  with  much  chaff  and  fun  and  laughter,  that  the 
bachelors  of  the  — th  received  the  information  that  they 
had  been  "  overslaughed,"  and  the  honor  conferred 
upon  a  new-comer  to  their  ranks,  and  of  all  men  on 
earth  Tommy  Hollis. 

Of  course  it  would  never  do  to  show  the  least  feeling 
in  the  matter.  Clark  and  Webster,  Dana  and  Hunter 
accepted  the  verdict  with  much  apparent  equanimity, 
though  frankly  admitting  it  a  surprise.  Hunter,  it  is 
true,  was  on  the  ragged  edge  of  a  rash  speech  when 
Blake's  boot-heel  came  down  on  his  foot,  and,  glancing 
up  in  sudden  wrath  and  pain,  Mr.  Hunter  glared  at 
his  long-legged  friend,  and  was  silenced  at  sight  of  the 
face  glowering  at  him  from  behind  the  outspread  news 
paper. 

"What  the  devil's  got  into  Blake,  anyhow?"  he 
asked  his  comrades  a  few  moments  after,  as  they  seated 
themselves  at  the  dinner-table  in  Clark's  roomy 
quarters.  "  He's  been  savage  and  sullen  as  a  wolf  for 
the  last  three  days.  I  never  knew  a  fellow  so 
changed." 

"  Blake's  hipped  about  something,  I  reckon.  He 
wouldn't  come  to  dinner  ;  said  he  was  going  to  dine 
out,"  answered  Dana,  shortly.  "  That  makes  two 
gone  to-night.  Now,  of  course,  it  wouldn't  do  to 
say  so  there,  with  Ross  and  Graham  and  Foster,  of 
the  Riflers,  chaffing  away  at  us ;  but  I  do  think  it 
is  a  mighty  queer  thing  that  Hollis  should  have 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  31 

been  chosen  to  lead  that  gerraan.  Does  he  know  it 
yet?" 

"  I  think  it  was  because  he  knew  it  that  he  was  in 
such  a  hurry  to  get  off  to-day  in  all  this  gale,"  an 
swered  Mr.  Clark,  dryly. 

"You  don't  mean ?  Why,  man,  he  couldn't !" 

answered  Dana,  vaguely  yet  suggestively,  dropping  the 
soup-ladle  with  which  he  had  been  busying  himself. 
"  Why,  Clark,  he's  got  to  ask  Mrs.  Atherton  or  Mrs. 
Turner,  or  some  one  of  the  committee  to  lead  with  him, 
— he's  simply  got  to." 

"  Well,  you  ask  Blake  what  he  thinks,"  was  the 
cool  reply.  And  the  entry  of  the  servant  put  an  end 
to  the  subject. 

But  Blake  was  not  coming,  as  he  had  said.  The 
bugles  had  summoned  the  garrison  to  retreat  roll- 
call,  and  then  the  officers  had  scattered  to  quarters, 
leaving  Blake  still  pretending  to  read  his  paper  at 
the  club-room.  Muldoon,  the  attendant,  was  going 
about  lowering  the  window-shades,  and  occasion 
ally  muttering  some  half-whimsical  comment  on  the 
storm.  He  had  closed  the  heavy  wooden  shutters  on 
the  west  side  of  the  big  barn-like  structure  and  lighted 
a  lamp  or  two  before  the  sun  was  fairly  down.  Now 
he  stopped  to  touch  a  match  to  another  that  hung 
nearly  over  Blake's  head,  and  caught  a  glimpse  of 
the  knitted  brows  and  hollowed  cheek  behind  the 
paper. 

uBeg  pardon,  Mr.  Blake,  but  don't  you  want  the 
late  paper, — that's  a  week  old.  You  ain't  feeling  just 
right,  I'm  afraid,  sir.  I  ain't  seen  you  looking  so  bad 
since  Mr.  Ray  had  all  his  trouble  last  summer."  And 


32  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Muldoon's  face  was  full  of  genuine  concern,  for,  among 
all  the  officers,  Blake  was  his  pet. 

"'Tis  grief  that's  beauty's  canker,  honest  Michael. 
I've  let  concealment,  like  a  bug  in  a  rug,  prey  on  this 
damask  cheek  until  it's  furrowed  like  a  washboard." 
And,  with  an  attempt  at  his  old  airy  manner,  Blake 
hurled  aside  his  paper  and  rose  to  his  feet.  "  Nothing's 
the  matter  with  me,  Mike,  but  a  bad  taste  in  my 
mouth.  It's  a  wry  face  you  see  I'm  making,  because 
you  gave  me  bourbon.  Halloo  !  what's  that?"  There 
was  instant  change  in  face  and  attitude.  A  horse's 
crunching,  plunging  hoofs  sounded  suddenly  without. 
A  light,  as  of  hope  though  half  incredulous,  shone  in 
his  eyes,  then  faded  suddenly  away.  The  east  door 
was  forced  slowly  open,  then  closed  with  wrathful  bang, 
and  a  strange  figure  stood  shivering  just  within. 

In  clinging  riding-habit  of  coarse  army  cloth  ;  in  a 
jockey-cap  of  the  same  material,  with  the  ear-tabs 
down  and  tied  beneath  the  chin  ;  with  a  rough  fur  cape 
about  her  shoulders,  and  long  gauntlets  of  beaver,  five 
sizes  too  big  for  her;  with  a  mass  of  auburn  hair 
tumbling  down  about  her  back  ;  with  great  big  brown 
eyes,  under  brows  thick  and  arching;  with  a  face  filled 
with  anxiety  and  battered  by  the  tempest,  there  stood 
a  tall  slip  of  a  girl  perhaps  fifteen  years  of  age. 
Blake  looked  at  her  in  astonishment. 

"  Good  Lord,  Nan  !  How  did  you  get  here  ?"  was 
Muldoon's  startled  question. 

"  Rode.     Where's  father?"  was  the  brief  response. 

"  Ain't  he  home  ?  He  hasn't  been  near  here  to 
day." 

"  Don't  lie.     He  drank  up  what  you  gave  him  yes- 


'  Good  Lord,  Nan  !  How  did  you  get  here  ?'  was  Muldoon's  startled 
question." 

Page  32. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  33 

terday,  and  he  started  out  first  thing  this  morning  for 
more,  and  I  know  it." 

"  Indeed,  Nan,  he  hasn't  been  here  at  all.  I'll  leave 
it  to  Mr.  Blake  here.  This  is  old  Captain  Bryan's 
girl,  lieutenant.  She  takes  mighty  good  care  of  the 
old  man,  too." 

"If  it  wasn't  for  you  and  this,"  and  her  great  eyes 
flashed  as  she  looked  wrathfully  about,  "  there  would 
be  no  need.  You  get  him  drunk,  Muldoon ;  now, 
where  have  you  hidden  him?  He's  needed  home." 

"  Nan,  if  he  isn't  home,  indeed  he  must  have  gone 
to  town.  I  give  you  my  word  I  ain't  seen  him  at  all. 
Ask  Mr.  Blake  here." 

"Are  you  Captain  Bryan's  daughter?"  queried 
Blake,  with  a  kind  interest  in  his  eyes,  as  he  stepped 
forward,  removing  his  cap  as  he  did  so.  "  Indeed, 
I  knew  your  father  very  well,  and  I  assure  you  he 
hasn't  been  here;  but  I'll  help  you  find  him  right 
off." 

The  half-defiant  look  upon  the  girl's  face,  the 
anxiety  and  anger  there  commingled,  slowly  gave  place 
to  a  totally  different  expression.  A  flood  of  crimson 
swept  to  her  very  forehead,  as  his  first  words  reached 
her.  There  was  an  instant  look  of  wonderment  in  the 
big  eyes  at  his  tone,  soft  and  courteous  as  though  he 
spoke  to  a  lady,  not  to  a  wild  prairie  waif  like  her; 
then,  too,  he  raised  his  forage-cap,  with  its  glistening 
gold  sabres,  just  as  he  would  to  the  gorgeously-dressed 
beauties  whom  she  had  sometimes  watched  and  envied 
from  afar.  She  had  come  prepared  for  battle  ;  come 
determined  to  drag  her  old  father  forth  before  greater 
harm  could  be  done,  and  to  hurl  reproaches  at  his 


34  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tempters ;  and  here  at  the  very  outset  was  disarmed  by 
this  gentle  knight,  long-legged,  gaunt,  and  quixotic, 
maybe,  but  almost  the  first  officer  she  had  spoken 
to  for  a  year, — the  only  one  who  had  ever  spoken  to 
her  except  in  tones  of  pity  or  indifference.  She  had 
almost  hated  and  despised  the  whole  array  of  them,  as 
she  often  said.  She  had  fled  and  hidden  herself  when 
ever  their  gay  hunting-parties  stopped  at  the  ranch, 
five  miles  away  up  the  creek,  where  her  close-fisted  old 
father  welcomed  them  always  as  customers.  She  had 
not  set  foot  within  the  fort  for  many  a  long  month, 
and  would  not  now  but  for  bitter  anxiety.  And  now, 
what  meant  this  total  change  in  her  reception  ? 

Utterly  careless  of  her  looks  as  she  had  forced  her 
entrance  upon  the  scene,  the  child's  face  burned  with 
sudden  consciousness  of  her  torn  and  dishevelled  attire, 
her  unkempt  hair,  the  dust  and  dirt  that  streaked  her 
face  and  reddened  her  eyelids.  One  swift  glance  she 
shot  up  at  the  tall  stranger,  then  turned  suddenly  away, 
burying  her  face  in  her  arms. 

"  Oh,  father,  father,"  she  moaned.  "  Then  he's  lost. 
He's  been  drinking, — you  know  he's  been  drinking. 
He's  wandered  off  as  he  did  before,  and  he'll  freeze  to 
death  to-night.  Oh,  father,  father." 

"  Hush,  Nan ;  hush,  child,"  said  Blake,  striving  to 
draw  her  to  a  seat.  "  Here,  Mulcloon,  bring  this  little 
woman  a  glass  of  good  sherry.  Why  the  child's  half 
frozen.  Now,  look  at  me,  Nan ;  we'll  find  father. 
Just  tell  me  when  he  left  home;  how  he  was  dressed; 
which  way  he  rode,  and  I'll  take  six  or  eight  of  our 
men  with  overcoats  and  blankets,  and  we'll  get  him 
home,  never  you  fear,  gale  or  no  gale.  There,  come, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  35 

come,  don't  cry  so,  Nan.  Drink  this,  child.  Nay,  you 
must.  See  if  any  of  the  men  are  in  the  other  room 
there,  Muldoon,  and  send  for  my  first  sergeant  at  once. 
I'll  go  up  and  see  Captain  Freeman  myself." 

And  so,  half-soothing,  half-reasoning  with  her,  he 
strove  to  chase  away  the  deep  trouble  in  which  the 
child  was  plunged.  She  ceased  her  tears  and  sipped 
at  the  wine  he  held  to  her  lips,  and  looked  shyly 
up  into  his  kindly  face,  through  those  long  wet 
lashes. 

"  It's  getting  so  dark  and  cold,"  she  said,  and  the 
piteous  quivering  of  her  lips  began  again.  "  I'm  so 
afraid  you  can't  find  him." 

"  We  won't  come  back  until  we  do,  Nan ;  but  mean 
time  we  must  look  after  you.  This  is  no  place  for  you, 
my  child,  and  I'm  going  to  take  you  right  up  the  road 
to  Mrs.  Freeman ;  she  will  take  the  best  kind  of  care 
of  you." 

"  Oh,  I  can't  go,"  protested  the  girl,  with  shudder 
ing  glance  at  her  soiled  and  grimy  attire.  "  Do  let 
me  stay  here  until  you  are  ready  to  start."  And  she 
shrank  in  such  genuine  distress  that  Blake  knew  not 
what  to  do. 

"  Just  look  after  her  a  few  minutes,  Muldoon,"  he 
cried.  "I'll  run  up  to  Captain  Freeman's.  I  don't 
know  how  to  talk  to  the  child,"  he  muttered  to  him 
self,  as  he  plunged  out  into  the  storm,  "  but  Mrs.  Free 
man  will, — bless  the  woman's  heart !"  And  four  min 
utes  later,  half-breathless,  he  was  in  his  captain's 
brightly-lighted  parlor,  hurriedly  telling  his  story. 
The  children  looked  up  eagerly  from  the  hearth-rug 
where  they  were  playing.  The  captain  laid  aside  his 


36  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

beloved  paper,  and  Mrs.  Freeman's  sweet  face,  all 
sympathy  and  interest,  gazed  up  into  his. 

"  Bring  her  right  here  to  me,"  she  cried.  "  Of  course 
we'll  be  glad  to  have  her.  You  go  and  help  him,  cap 
tain.  I'll  go  too  if  you'll  let  me." 

"  No,  you  stay  home.  This  wind  would  whirl  such 
a  giddy  thing  off  her  pins  in  a -second,"  laughed  her 
tall  husband,  as  he  rose  to  his  feet  and  strode  out  into 
the  hall.  "  We'll  get  her  here  all  right.  How  many 
men  do  you  want,  Blake  ?"  he  queried.  "  It's  an  awful 
night  for  men  and  horses,  but  there's  no  getting  out  of 
it.  Send  Corporal  Wales  into  town  to  Luke's  place 
the  first  thing,  and  have  him  wire  back  from  there. 
I'll  go  and  see  the  colonel,  and  have  the  operator  in  the 
office.  Let  another  man  ride  over  to  the  depot  at  the 
same  time." 

Just  about  an  hour  later,  while  the  gale  was  at  its 
height,  there  came  a  fumbling  ring  at  the  front  door 
bell  of  Major  Granger's  substantial  quarters  at  the  big 
supply-depot.  The  parlor  windows  gave  forth  a  bright 
glare ;  a  coal-fire  roared  in  the  open  grate ;  the  maid 
servant,  who  went  to  answer  the  bell,  remembered  that 
Mrs.  Granger  looked  up  inquiringly  from  the  table 
where  she  was  seated,  and  said, — 

"  It  is  not  possible  any  one  could  be  calling  on  such 
a  night.  Say  that  the  major  will  be  home  to-morrow, 
if  any  of  the  men  want  to  see  him." 

An  instant  later  the  door  flew  open  ;  a  gust  of  wind 
blew  out  the  hall-lamp;  there  was  a  shriek  of  terror 
from  the  girl ;  a  heavy,  lunging  fall.  The  maid 
servant  scurried  back  to  the  kitchen,  from  which  she 
had  come.  Mrs.  Granger  sprang  from  her  seat, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  37 

startled  and  alarmed  ;  her  companion  made  one  leap 
to  the  hall-way,  bent  down,  and  dragged  into  the  light 
the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  prostrate  soldier.  Then, 
with  consternation  in  his  tones,  he  exclaimed, — 

"  My  God  !  it's  Blake." 

In  an  instant  there  was  another  fall, — Mrs.  Granger 
had  fainted. 


38  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  gale  had  died  away  during  the  night,  and  the 
day  that  followed  was  bright  and  radiant.  The  blast 
from  the  Rockies  had  subsided,  but  there  was  a  tempest 
at  the  fort. 

It  must  have  been  about  eleven  o'clock.  Half  a 
dozen  ladies  were  busily  at  work  in  Mrs.  Truscott's 
cosey  parlor.  German  favors  of  the  daintiest  make  were 
being  rapidly  inspected  and  pronounced  upon  by  the 
fair  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose.  The  captain 
and  Mr.  Ray  had  appeared  an  instant  at  the  parlor- 
door,  but  were  bidden  summarily  to  vanish.  Mrs. 
Raymond  was  sure  that  if  they  saw  those  favors,  the 
whole  garrison  would  know  all  about  them  in  less 
than  no  time.  So  the  two  officers  laughingly  passed 
on  into  the  captain's  own  particular  den,  where  they 
were  presently  engaged  in  earnest  talk.  Excusing 
herself  a  moment,  Mrs.  Truscott,  who  really  could  not 
let  her  husband  come  in  or  go  out  without  a  kiss, 
slipped  quietly  through  the  sitting-room  beyond  and 
tapped  lightly  at  the  study-door,  bent  over  the  captain's 
handsome  head  and  pressed  her  lips  upon  his  brow, 
then  turned  to  the  lieutenant. 

"  How  is  Mr.  Blake  now  ?"  she  asked,  in  low  tone. 

"  Resting  quietly,"  answered  Ray ;  "  there's  no  great 
harm  done.  For  the  present,  at  least,  we  want  it 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  39 

understood  that  his  horse  stumbled,  and  so  stunned 
him ;  but Jack  has  told  you  ?" 

"  Yes.     And  is  there  no  trace  of  his  assailant  ?" 

"Not  a  vestige.  It's  the  most  mysterious  thing. 
Hollis  declares  that  there  wasn't  a  sound  of  a  scuffle ; 
but  in  that  gale  he  couldn't  have  heard.  He  and  Mrs. 
Granger  were  playing  cribbage,  it  seems.  Blake  him 
self  remembers  nothing  but  that,  having  thrown  the 
reins  over  the  gate-post,  he  was  just  going  up  the  steps 
when  the  blow  came.  Grimes  says  it  was  a  knotted 
club  that  did  it,  and  a  club  was  found  not  ten  yards 
away.  It  is  a  wonder  his  skull  wasn't  fractured  ;  the 
thick  fur  cap  saved  him.  I'm  going  again  as  soon  as 
I  see  Jack  a  moment.  I've  a  letter  to  write  before  the 
stage  leaves." 

"Tell  her  I  miss  her  almost  as  much  as  you  do," 
answered  Mrs.  Truscott,  with  a  sympathetic  light  in 
her  lovely  eyes.  "Now  I'll  leave  you  together. 
There's  Mrs.  Turner  just  come  in."  And  twining 
her  arms  about  her  husband's  neck  for  a  final  hug, 
as  he  sat  in  his  easy-chair,  the  blithe  young  matron 
departed. 

It  was,  indeed,  Mrs.  Turner,  and  Mrs.  Turner  in  a 
state  of  excitement  bordering  on  the  explosive.  She 
had  not  time  for  the  ordinary  social  greeting.  Her 
eyes  were  ablaze,  her  cheeks  flushed,  her  every  move 
ment  spasmodic.  Fiercely  she  broke  forth, — 

"  Have  you  heard  the  news  ?  Have  you  heard  the 
news  ?" 

"  About  Mr.  Blake,  dear  ?"  queried  Mrs.  Raymond, 
indifferently.  "  Why,  of  course,  hours  ago." 

"  Mr.  Blake,  indeed  !     Have  you  heard  the  news — 


40  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

the  news — the ?  Well,  I've  no  word  to  express  it. 

Have  you  heard ?     But  just  let  me  ask  you  one 

thing.     Who  should  Mr.  Hollis  have  asked  to  lead 
our  german  with  him  ?     Now,  answer  me  that." 

"  Why,  Mrs.  Atherton,  or  Mrs.  Turner,  or  Mrs. 
Truscott,  or,  indeed,  I  don't  know,"  answered  Mrs. 
Stannard,  smilingly,  amused  at  the  impetuosity  of  her 
near  neighbor.  "  Why  do  you  ask  ?"  she  suddenly 
inquired,  seeing  the  looks  of  eager  curiosity  on  the  faces 
of  the  little  circle. 

"  Well,  of  all  women  hereabouts,  who  shouldn't  he 
have  asked  ?  Answer  me  that,"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Turner,  rising  dramatically  to  her  full  height  and 
stretching  forth  her  slender  arm.  There  was  an  in 
stant  of  effective  tableau.  Down  dropped  the  pretty 
knick-knacks  of  favors;  down  dropped  busy  fingers, 
reckless  of  needle-pricks  ;  half  a  dozen  pairs  of  wide- 
open  eyes — blue,  hazel,  gray,  and  brown — gazed  in  wild, 
half-incredulous  suspense  into  the  quivering  face  of 
their  lively  comrade ;  and  it  was  Mrs.  Freeman  who 
first  found  voice ;  but  instant  chorus  followed. 

"Mrs.  Tamer!" 

11  Mrs.  Turner !     You  can't  mean  it !" 

"  Mrs.  Turner  !     It  simply  isn't  possible  !" 

"  Well,  of  all  th !" 

"  I  declare  I  shall  die  !" 

And  then  every  woman  in  the  group  threw  herself 
back  in  her  chair  and  laughed  until  the  tears  started ; 
laughed  until  the  captain  strode  forth  from  his  den, 
with  whimsical  query  as  to  the  cause  of  all  this  hys 
terical  merriment.  Not  a  name  had  been  mentioned, 
yet  just  who  it  must  be  seemed  to  have  flashed  upon 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  41 

every  one  of  those  acute  feminine  minds  at  one  and  the 
same  instant.  The  little  army  cottage  fairly  rang  with 
their  peal  of  hilarity. 

"You  saw  him  last  night,  Mr.  Ray,"  at  last  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Turner,  as  that  mystified  officer  came 
peering  after  Truscott.  "  You  saw  him  last  night  and 
talked  with  him  an  hour.  Why  didn't  you  tell  us  first 
thing  this  morning  ?" 

"Tell  you  what?"  queried  Mr.  Ray,  his  white  teeth 
gleaming,  as  he  looked  in  mingled  amusement  and 
scrutiny  from  one  face  to  the  other. 

"  Why,  that  Mr.  Hollis  had  asked  Mrs.  Granger  to 
lead  with  him." 

"  Well,  I  didn't  know, — at  least,  he  didn't  say  any 
thing  about  it." 

"  But  you  knew  it,  did  you  not?" 

"  Why,  of  cose,"  says  Mr.  Ray,  in  his  softest  blue- 
grass  ;  "  I've  known  it  all  along.  Anybody  who 
knew  Tommy  Hawlis  at  all  would  have  known  just 
what  to  expect." 

"And  you  wouldn't  give  us  warning?" 

"  Why,  certainly  not.  It  wasn't  a  matter  a  man 
could  speak  of  very  well,  that  I  can  see.  If  you 
ladies  wanted  to  choose  Hawlis  to  lead  for  you  'twould 
have  been  a  mighty  indelicate  piece  of  business  for  any 
one  of  us  to  say  a  word,  no  matter  what  we  thought. 
But  awnest,  now,  didn't  you  just  know  that  that  was 
the  first  thing  he  would  be  apt  to  do?"  And  Mr. 
Ray's  dark  eyes  were  twinkling  under  their  heavy 
brows,  in  his  evident,  mischievous  delight  in  the 
situation. 

"  Never  dreamed  of  the  possibility  of  such  a  thing !" 
4* 


42  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

exclaimed  Mrs.  Turner.  "  Now,  Fm  going  right  up 
to  Mrs.  Atherton's.  She's  the  one  that  would  have 
him  for  leader, — she  and  Mrs.  Gregg." 

"Don't  trouble  yourself,  Mrs.  Turner,"  laughed 
Ray.  "  Here  comes  her  ladyship  now,  and  Mrs.  Gregg 
with  her.  What  wouldn't  Blake  give  to  see  this  fun?'' 
he  muttered  to  Truscott. 

"  I  declare,  Mr.  Ray,  you  deserve  to  be — scratched," 
fiercely  vociferated  Mrs.  Turner,  who  caught  his  last 
words,  just  as  the  hall-door  flew  open  and  in  came 
the  ladies  from  '*  the  head  of  the  row." 

"  Well !  no  use  asking  if  you've  heard,"  exclaimed 
the  foremost,  "  here's  Mrs.  Turner.  But  did  you  ever 
— did  you  ever  hear  anything  quite  so  outrageous? 
Now,  I  just  knew  that  he  would  go  and  ask  her,  but 
what  could  one  say  when  everybody  else  was  bent  on 
having  him  to  lead." 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Atherton  !  I'm  sure  I  said  everything  I 
could  to  dissuade  you  and  Mrs.  Gregg.  You  knew 
who  I  wanted  all  the  time." 

"  Why,  Fanny  Turner !"  burst  in  Mrs.  Gregg. 
"  When  I  suggested  Mr.  Clark  or  Mr.  Ray,  you 
scouted  the  very  idea.  You  said  they  were  both  too 
old  and  poky.  Oh,  Mr.  Ray,  I  didn't  see  you  at 
all." 

"Mrs.  Gregg,  how  can  you  say  such  a  thing?  J 
wanted  Mr.  Clark  or  Mr.  Ray  or  almost  anybody  to 
lead  all  along.  Didn't  I,  Nellie?"  appealingly  to 
Mrs.  Raymond ;  and  Mrs.  Turner's  soft  cheeks  were 
flaming  high  with  their  battle-colors. 

But  Mrs.  Raymond,  too,  was  talking  vehemently. 
In  fact,  by  this  time  four  out  of  the  eight  women 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE  43 

present  held  the  floor  and  refused  to  yield.  Under 
cover  of  a  fire  of  excited  comment  and  controversy  the 
two  men  slipped  quietly  away,  leaving  the  conversa 
tional  whirlpool  in  full  and  resistless  swing.  From 
unanimous  condemnation  of  their  chosen  champion  and 
leader  the  congress  had  suddenly  turned  upon  his  luck 
less  partner. 

"Surely  she  must  have  sense  enough  to  know. 
Surely  she  declined/7  suggested  Mrs.  Raymond. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it !  Accepted,  quite  as  a  matter  of 
course,"  said  Mrs.  Atherton,  sitting  very  erect. 
"  Hasn't  she  been  the  belle  here  for  two  years  past  ? 
Didn't  she  look  upon  it  quite  as  her  due?  Why," 
and  then  as  though  suddenly  overcome  by  a  new  and 
overwhelming  sense  of  the  calamitous  result  of  their 
choice,  adid  you  ever  dream  of  such  a  possibility? 
Now,  Mrs.  Stannard,  would  you  have  thought  any  man 

capable  of  such — such ?"  And  here  the  justly 

irate  lady  broke  off  helplessly,  words  failing  to  express 
her  due  sense  of  the  enormity  of  Tommy's  conduct. 

"  Well,"  answered  Mrs.  Stannard,  reflectively,  her 
blue  eyes  twinkling  the  while,  "  I  was  here,  you  know, 
much  of  the  summer,  and  saw  rather  more  of  Mr. 
Hollis  after  he  returned  from  leave " 

"  Yes,  and  /  heard,"  burst  in  Mrs.  Turner,  "  that 
he  got  that  leave  a  month  after  she  went  to  the  sea 
shore,  and  that  he  never  spent  six  days  of  it  at  home  ; 
he  was  with  her  at  Seagirt  every  moment  of  the  time." 

"But  really,  Mrs.  Stannard,"  persisted  the  colonel's 
wife,  who  already  knew  not  a  little  of  Mrs.  Turner's 
impetuosity  of  opinion,  and  wanted  something  more 
stable,  "you,  of  course,  knew  more  of  Mr.  Hollis 


44  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

than  most  of  us.  Did  you  actually  believe  he  could 

be  such  a — be  so Well,  did  you  suppose  he  could 

do  such  a  thing  as  to  ignore  all  the  ladies  of  his  own 
regiment,  in  their  own  germaii  that  they  had  chosen 
him  to  lead,  and  then  go  and  ask  a  stranger  to  lead 
this  german  with  him?  Now,  I  admit  that  we  who 
were  of  the  committee  decided  on  him  as  the  leader, 
but  would  you — could  you  have  suspected  his  doing 
such  a  thing  as  that  ?" 

Mrs.  Truscott  bent  low  over  her  busy  needle,  but 
stole  an  expressive  glance  at  Mrs.  Stannard's  laughing 
face. 

"  I  declare/'  exclaimed  Mrs.  Gregg,  "  I  just  believe 
you  two  knew  all  the  time  and  wouldn't  tell  it." 

"  What  cpuld  I  tell  ?"  laughed  Mrs.  Stannard.  "  I 
hardly  knew  her  at  all.  But  Mr.  Hollis,  possibly, 
reasons  that  it  was  just  what  the  proprieties  in  the  case 
demanded.  He  is  but  a  new-comer,  and  was  selected 
over  all  the — well — real  officers  of  the  regiment,  so  he 
decided  to  make  a  somewhat  similar  choice." 

"Oh,  what  an  outrageous  explanation!  Oh,  Mrs. 
Stannard,  how  can  you?  I  declare,  I  think  you  are 
just  enjoying  our  mortification."  These  and  other  ex 
clamations  in  swelling  chorus  greeted  the  half-mirthful, 
half- mischievous  theory  of  the  major's  bonny  wife. 

"Well,  I  know  just  what  I  shall  tell  him!"  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Turner.  "  I  know  that  if  he  offers  to 
take  me  out  I  shall  refuse." 

"I  declare,  I'll  never  dance  with  him  again,"  pro 
tested  Mrs.  Gregg.  "  I  think  his  conduct  simply  ex 
asperating,  and  the  sooner  we  tell  him  the  better  it 
will  be." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  45 

"  You  do  not  mean  that  now  you  are  going  to  let 
him  see  you  disapprove  his  choice?77  was  Mrs.  Stan- 
nard's  anxious  inquiry. 

"  Indeed  I  am  !  Indeed,  I  think  it's  the  duty  of  the 
ladies  of  this  regiment  to  let  him  see  how  indignant 
we  are." 

"  Indeed,  I  think  so  too/'  declared  Mrs.  Turner. 

"  Indeed,  it  would  serve  him  right,"  thought  others 
present;  and  matters  began  to  look  unpleasantly 
squally  for  Hollis. 

Mrs.  Stannard  shook  her  head  doubtfully,  and 
looked  at  Mrs.  Atherton  for  support. 

"  Oh,  I  knew  you  wouldn't  approve  any  rebuke," 
said  Mrs.  Atherton. 

"  No,  it  would  be  a  great  mistake,  in  my  opinion," 
said  Mrs.  Stannard,  being  personally  addressed  again. 
"He  was  formally  notified  of  his  selection,  as  I  am 
told,  and  given  to  understand  that  he  was  to  choose  his 
own  partner.  Am  I  not  right?" 

"  Yes,  certainly,  that's  what  I  told  him,"  said  Mrs. 
Atherton,  somewhat  hesitatingly ;  "  but  then  who  on 

earth  would  suppose Oh,  well,  what  is  the  use  of 

my  saying  more  on  the  subject !"  And  madame  threw 
herself  back  in  the  luxurious  lounging  chair  and 
fanned  her  flushed  cheeks  with  her  handkerchief. 

"  Well,  she  has  as  formally  accepted,  so  I  under 
stand,"  continued  Mrs.  Stannard.  "  Wasn't  that  what 
Mr.  Hollis  told  the  colonel  ?" 

"Catch  her  declining  such  a  chance,"  pouted  Mrs. 
Turner. 

"  Yes.  Of  course  the  colonel  sent  for  Mr.  Hollis 
this  morning  to  hear  his  story  of  this  strange  accident 


46  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

to  Mr.  Blake  last  night,  and  Hollis  explained  his  long 
visit  there  by  saying  that  he  was  going  over  the  figures 
for  the  german  with  Mrs.  Granger,  who  was  to  lead 
with  him, — our  german,  O  misery  I"  And  Mrs. 
Atherton's  eyes  were  cast  heavenward  in  tragic  despair, 
as  once  again  the  full  force  of  their  calamity  burst 
upon  her. 

"  I'm  afraid  that  it  will  only  make  bad  worse  to  say 
anything  about  it  to  him  now,"  continued  the  major's 
wife,  after  waiting  a  moment  for  comparative  silence  to 
be  restored.  Laughter  and  lamentations  were  pretty 
equally  matched  for  the  supremacy  in  that  fair  conven 
tion.  Even  its  most  indignant  member  could  not 
but  see  something,  at  least,  of  the  comical  side  of  the 
question. 

"  Mrs.  Stannard  !  You  don't  mean  he  would  go 
and  tell  her?'7 

"  Well,  do  you  not  think  it  quite  possible  after  what 
he  has  done  ?" 

"  Oh,  he  couldn't  be  such  a  fool  as  that/'  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Turner. 

"Well,  now,  it  wouldn't  surprise  me  in  the  least; 
would  it  you,  Mrs.  Truscott  ?"  said  Mrs.  Gregg. 

"  I  hardly  know  Mr.  Hollis  at  all,  and  have  only 
met  Mrs.  Granger  once,  you  know,  so  I  could  not 
express  an  opinion." 

Wise  young  woman  !  She  did  not  say  that  bluff  old 
Stannard  himself  had  come  bursting  in  with  the  news 
an  hour  before,  apoplectic  and  shaking  with  laughter, 
declaring  it  was  simply  a  case  of  retributive  justice; 
but  that  he  and  her  Jack  had  solemnly  declared  there 
was  only  one  thing  left  for  the  ladies  to  do,  and  that 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  47 

was,  ratify  their  leader's  choice  without  hesitancy  or 
delay.  Any  other  course  meant  a  sensation  of  the  first 
magnitude. 

But  Mrs.  Turner's  sad-faced  lord  had  also  heard  the 
news  at  the  adjutant's  office,  where  Mr.  Billings  and 
other  graceless  subalterns  were  splitting  their  sides 
over  the  absurdity  of  the  situation,  and  had  hastened 
to  restrain,  if  possible,  any  extraordinary  outbreak  on 
the  part  of  his  wife,  and  he  had  gravely  advised  her  to 
the  same  effect  and  prescribed  silence.  It  was  charac 
teristic  of  Mrs.  Turner  that  this  marital  caution  should 
be  promptly  and  contemptuously  scouted,  and  that  she 
rushed  forth  to  spread  the  tidings  forthwith,  while  poor 
Turner,  with  a  heavy  sigh,  wandered  over  to  the 
troop-office,  and  buried  himself  in  the  muster-  and 
clothing-rolls. 

"  Captain  Turner  says  it  serves  us  right,  and  we've 
simply  got  to  stand  it.  I  won't,  for  one,"  Mrs.  Tur 
ner  presently  made  herself  heard  over  the  hubbub. 
"'The  idea  of  our  tamely  submitting  to  such  an  affront 
as  that !" 

"  Well,  the  colonel  thinks  so  too,  and  so  does  Major 
Stannard,  I  know,"  said  Mrs.  Atherton.  "  Of  course 
it's  hard,  but " 

"  Hard  !"  cried  Mrs.  Gregg ;  "  why,  it's  simply 
awful.  I  suppose  we've  got  to  accept  it ;  but,  all  the 
same,  I  mean  to  give  him  a  hint  or  two  as  to  what  I 
think." 

"  And  so  do  I,  though  Captain  Turner  says  it's  the 
worst  thing  we  can  possibly  do." 

"  No ;  I'll  tell  you,  now,"  proclaimed  Mrs.  Atherton, 
solemnly,  "  it  will  never  do  in  the  world ;  it  will  be 


48  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

utterly  unbecoming  in  any  of  us,  as  Mrs.  Stannard 
says,  to  show  the  faintest  resentment  now.  Just  let 
the  thing  go  on.  Let  her  lead.  Then — when  it's  all 
over  and  can't  be  spoiled  any  further — then  we  can 
give  Mr.  Hollis,  perhaps,  a  quiet  piece  of  our  minds." 

This,  indeed,  might  have  been  wisdom  ;  but  what 
power  can  stay  the  inevitable?  It  was  too  much  to 
expect  of  human  nature — woman  nature,  at  least — 
that  Tommy  Hollis  should  be  allowed  to  live  and  read 
no  signs  in  eyes,  in  gesture,  or  in  tongue  of  the  dis 
grace  that  had  befallen  him.  And  if  nothing  had  been 
said  to  him  by  one  of  their  number  upon  the  subject, 
would  there  not  still  have  been  some  one  to  bring 
something  to  his  ears  of  his  heartless,  soulless,  senseless 
conduct  ?  Even  if  no  man  nor  woman  at  the  post  were 
to  open  his  eyes  to  the  error  of  his  ways,  could  it  be 
conceived  of  a  woman  in  Mrs.  Granger's  position  that 
she  herself  would  not  well  know  just  what  her  sisters 
at  the  garrison  must  feel  at  being  thus  set  aside  and 
the  crown  awarded  to  her?  What  was  there  in  the 
fabled  "Judgment  of  Paris"  to  equal  this  modern 
instance  of  utter  lack  of  common  sense  on  Tommy's 
part? 

Fate  spared  him  an  explosion  until  late  that  day. 
The  interview  with  the  colonel  over,  he  had  promptly 
shaken  off  his  sense  of  the  censure  in  his  commander's 
grave  tones.  The  colonel  could  not  blame  him  for  not 
returning  to  the  fort  the  previous  evening  through  all 
that  gale,  neither  could  he  rebuke  an  officer  and  a  gen 
tleman  for  spending  hours,  as  it  turned  out,  at  Granger's 
quarter's  at  the  depot,  instead  of,  as  supposed,  in  town. 
Hollis  promptly  explained  the  change  in  the  situation 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  49 

by  saying  that  not  until  nearly  noon — after  he  had  ob 
tained  permission  to  be  absent — had  he  been  notified 
of  the  honor  conferred  upon  him,  and  it  was  necessary 
that  he  should  lose  no  time  in  consulting  his  fair  partner 
at  once.  Atherton  would  say  no  more  just  then,  but  his 
manner  could  imply  a  good  deal,  even  when  he  was 
silent.  Hollis  had  frankly  stated  that  he  desired  to  go 
once  more  to  see  Mrs.  Granger,  so  as  to  discuss  further 
figures,  etc.,  since  their  conference  on  the  previous  even 
ing  was  broken  up  by  Blake's  mysterious  adventure, 
and  the  colonel  had  decided  to  let  him  go.  Perhaps 
he  thought  that  under  the  circumstances  Hollis  was 
better  out  of  the  garrison  than  in  it. 

And  so  it  resulted  that  not  until  after  stables  did 
anybody  get  a  chance  at  him.  He  came  galloping 
down  the  bluff,  full  ten  minutes  late  for  his  duties, 
and,  all  in  a  glow,  rushed  up  to  apologize  to  his  cap 
tain,  who  greeted  him  gruffly  enough  to  chill  anybody 
else  but  a  sub  like  Tommy.  He  made  himself  un 
usually  energetic  and  officious  around  the  picket-line 
that  evening,  as  though  in  reparation  for  his  sin,  and 
bothered  the  men  not  a  little  by  diving  in  between  the 
horses,  and  giving  voluble  hints  and  corrections  on 
methods  of  grooming  to  old  troopers,  who  knew  ten 
times  as  much  about  their  business  as  Hollis  did.  He 
joined  the  squad  of  comrades  strolling  up  to  the  garri 
son  the  moment  stable-duty  was  over,  and  then  the  fun 
began.  Lieutenant  Crane  was  one  of  the  party,  and  he 
never  was  known  to  fail  to  hit  a  sore  spot,  and  Crane 
had  happened  to  drop  in  at  the  Wilkins's  that  very 
afternoon,  and,  of  course,  had  learned  the  news. 

"  Well,  Tomuiy,  my  boy,  have  you  made  your  peace 
c  d  5 


50  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

with  the  ladies  yet  ?  It's  your  first  and  last  appearance 
as  a  german-leader,  I'm  told." 

"  Shut  up,  Crane.  It's  none  of  your  infernal  busi 
ness,"  growled  the  quartermaster,  who  was  just  behind. 
But  there  were  too  many  present  who  couldn't  help  en 
joying  the  fun  a  little  bit,  and  Crane  was  not  promptly 
gagged,  as  he  deserved  to  be. 

"  Why,  what's  the  matter  ?"  queried  Hollis,  looking 
quickly  about,  and  noting  the  silence  that  had  fallen  on 
the  party.  The  colonel  and  most  of  the  seniors  were 
trudging  along  ahead.  It  was  a  fun-loving,  not  to  say 
mischief-loving,  crowd  into  which  Tommy  had  dropped. 

"  Oh,  nothing  of  any  consequence,"  grinned  Crane. 
"  But  if  I  were  in  your  place  I  would  want  to  crawl 
into  a  knot-hole  and  pull  it  after  me.  You  were  the 
idol  of  all  the  ladies  but  a  week  ago,  Tommy;  and  now, 
as  Blake  would  put  it,  there's  none  so  poor  to  do  your 
reverence  anything  short  of  a  bad  turn." 

"  Here,  Crane,  you  needn't  take  it  upon  yourself 
now  to  represent  the  ladies,"  interposed  Clark,  who 
couldn't  bear  him.  "  Just  mind  your  own  affairs, 
man;"  and  the  quartermaster  was  evidently  reddening 
angrily.  Crane  would  have  flushed,  too,  at  this  inter 
ruption,  had  his  cuticle  been  capable  of  showing  an 
honest  color,  but  long  and  constant  practice  with  the 
bottle  had  steeped  his  visage  in  a  purplish  dye.  He 
glowered  sulkily  at  his  mentor,  but  said  nothing  artic 
ulate.  If  there  were  two  men  of  whom  Crane  could 
be  said  to  be  afraid,  they  were  Ray  and  Clark ;  one  of 
the  two  was  perpetually  snubbing  him.  So  long  as  the 
party  hung  together  it  was  impossible  to  talk  further 
on  that  subject.  The  others  saw  that  Clark  was  right, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  51 

and  called  Hoi  1  is  aside;  but  Crane's  propensity  for 
mischief  was  fully  aroused,  and  opposition  only  made 
him  obstinate.  A  drink  or  two  at  Muldoon's  added 
fuel  to  the  flames,  and,  catching  sight  of  Hollis  coming 
across  the  parade  the  moment  retreat  roll-call  was  over, 
he  deliberately  hailed  him,  and,  taking  his  arm  in  semi- 
confidential  manner,  led  him  along  the  gravel-path,  di 
rectly  towards  the  little  group  of  garrison  ladies,  among 
whom  Mrs.  Wilkins  would  have  been  easily  recogniza 
ble  in  the  dark  :  her  voice  was  unmistakable. 

"I'm  a  friend  of  yours,  Hollis,"  said  Crane,  thickly, 
"and  I  don't  want  to  see  you  making  blunders  all  the 
time.  You  ought  to  know  what  the  ladies  think  of 
your  giving  them  all  the  go-by,  and  waltzing  out 
side  the  garrison  for  a  partner. — I've  just  been  telling 
Mr.  Hollis  you  had  a  rod  in  pickle  for  him,  Mrs. 
Wilkins,"  said  Crane,  raising  his  voice  so  that  all 
could  hear. 

They  had  been  chatting  gleefully  together  but  a 
minute  before.  They  were  mostly  of  the  "  Riflers,"  and 
the  doctor's  wife  was  there ;  but  sure  enough,  as  luck 
would  have  it,  there  were  both  Mrs.  Wilkins  and 
Mrs.  Raymond;  and  just  beyond,  Mrs.  Turner  and 
Mrs.  Gregg,  returning  homeward  after  a  round  of 
calls,  where,  beyond  doubt,  Tommy's  atrocity  had 
been  discussed  in  all  its  bearings. 

"  Did  you,  now  ?"  laughed  Mrs.  Wilkins,  loudly. 
"And  why  should  I  care  who  he  leads  with?  But 
you  are  a  pretty  fellow,  Mr.  Hollis,  I  will  say ;  and 
it's  proud  we  are  of  you.  Aren't  we,  Mrs.  Raymond  ?" 

"  Well,  I  never  meant  to  say  a  word  about  it,"  hesi 
tated  Mrs.  Raymond,  knowing  well,  in  the  presence 


52  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

of  ladies  of  another  regiment,  this  was  no  place  for 
discussion  of  such  a  matter,  yet  totally  unable  to  resist 
the  longing  to  make  him  wince.  Her  eyes  flashed 
scornfully  over  his  perturbed  features,  as  she  added, 
"  It  is  too  soon,  of  course,  to  expect  Mr.  Hollis  to 
abandon  old  associations  ;  not  that  I  care." 

Hollis  turned  redder  every  instant,  and  gazed  help 
lessly  from  one  to  the  other. 

"  Here's  Mrs.  Gregg  and  Mrs.  Turner,"  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Wilkins.  "They're  the  ones  to  tell  you  your 
sins."  But  Mrs.  Gregg,  with  a  haughty  toss  of  her 
head  and  a  "good-evening"  that  seemed  to  include 
everybody  but  Mr.  Hollis,  passed  them  by,  and  trailed 
on  up  the  walk.  Mrs.  Turner  only  slackened  speed 
long  enough  to  say, — 

"  Well,  I  do  think  you  are  a  pretty  fellow." 

"  For  mercy's  sake,  what  do  you  mean  ?"  asked  Hol 
lis,  springing  to  her  side  and  walking  with  her.  Mrs. 
Gregg  floated  airily  away  before,  her  head  high  in 
air.  Mrs.  Turner  called  to  her  to  wait,  but  wait  she 
would  not. 

"Mrs.  Turner,  what  have  I  done?"  urged  Tommy, 
vaguely  hoping  that  it  might  be  something  other  than 
what  he  feared. 

"  The  idea  of  your  asking  anybody  to  lead  our  german 
for  us!" 

"  Why,  I  thought  she'd  be  the  very  one.  You  see 
she  knows  everybody  in  town." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  sarcastically ;  "  and  undoubtedly  it  was 
solely  on  that  account  you  asked  her.     Very  well,  Mr. 
Hollis;   but  the  next  time  we  give   a   german— 
And  Mrs.  Turner  paused,  suggestively. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  53 

"You  don't  mean  the  ladies  are  angry  at  me?" 
anxiously  pleaded  poor  Tom. 

"  Angry  ?  Dear  me,  no  ;  but  if  you  haven't  fallen, 
like  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning,  just  ask  Mrs.  Ather- 
ton ;  she's  got  a  blessing  for  you.  Ask — well,  ask  any 
body  in  the  — th  what  she  has  said,  what  any  one  of 
them  has  said,  for  that  matter,  what  they  were  all 
saying  at  Mrs.  Truscott's  this  morning.7' 

Hollis  dropped  his  under  jaw  aghast.  Somewhere 
down  in  the  benighted  depths  of  his  soul  he  had  already 
felt  that  there  was  something  amiss  about  his  asking 
Mrs.  Granger  to  lead  with  him,  but  had  brushed  it 
airily  aside  as  a  matter  of  no  great  consequence. 
Now,  however,  things  were  assuming  proportions 
never  yet  dreamed  of. 

Mrs.  Gregg  had  gone  determinately  by,  setting  her 
foot  down  upon  her  longing  to  pitch  into  Tommy  on 
her  own  account.  She  had  loyally  intended  abiding 
by  Mrs.  Atherton's  decision,  but  she  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  of  holding  up,  just  a  little  bit,  and  lis 
tening  to  the  excited  colloquy  going  on  behind  her. 
The  next  tiling  she  was  called  into  action. 

"I'll  leave  it  to  Mrs.  Gregg,"  said  Mrs.  Turner, 
excitedly.  "You  were  there  with  Mrs.  Atherton 
when  she  came  into  the  Truscotts'.  Didn't  she  say 
it  was  the  most  outrageous  tiling  she  ever  heard  of?" 

Now,  while  Mrs.  Gregg  had  virtually  promised  to 
say  nothing  of  her  own  opinion,  this  by  no  means  im 
posed  silence  as  to  those  of  others.  She  could  make 
Hollis  wince  by  cracking  Mrs.  Atherton's  whip  over 
his  shoulders.  She  knew  well  that  Mrs.  Turner's  ver 
sion  of  her  ladyship's  words  was  greatly  overdrawn ; 


54  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

but  not  more  than  he  deserved.  The  temptation  was 
too  much  for  her. 

"If  she  didn't  say  exactly  that,"  said  Mrs.  Gregg,  "she 
probably  thought  every  bit  of  it."  And  if  ever  woman's 
eyes  shot  actual  daggers  at  a  man,  Hollis's  thick  skin 
would  have  been  riddled  like  a  sieve  then  and  there. 

"  Yes,  and  everybody  agreed  with  her ;  and  all  your 
friends  were  there,  Mr.  Tommy  Hollis,  and  not  one 
would  speak  up  for  you/'  added  Mrs.  Turner. 

Hollis  looked  simply  crushed  and  dazed.  "  Why,  I 
never  dreamed  of  such  a  row,"  he  moaned.  "  What 
can  I  do?" 

"Do?  YouVe  done  it!"  But  just  what  more 
might  have  been  said  goodness  only  knows.  A  door 
opened  close  at  hand  ;  a  stentorian  voice  shouted, — 

"  M'riar,  come  in  here  !"  and  Captain  Gregg  had  sum 
marily  called  off  his  better  half,  who  had  no  idea  that 
he  was  at  home  and  a  probable  diviner  of  what  was 
taking  place,  and  Captain  Turner  had  as  quietly  stepped 
up  the  walk,  and,  linking  his  arm  in  that  of  his  pretty 
and  pouting  wife,  quickly  turned  the  current  of  talk  as 
the  group  of  ladies  came  drifting  down  to  join  them. 

But  the  mischief  was  done.  Hollis  called  desper 
ately  on  one  or  two  of  his  fair  friends  in  garrison  right 
after  dinner ;  then  ordered  his  horse  and  galloped  away 
over  the  hard,  resounding  prairie. 

The  next  morning  a  large  party  of  ladies  in  town  were 
shopping  and  chatting  when  Mrs.  Granger's  stylish 
landau  came  whirling  by.  They  looked  eagerly  at  one 
another,  then  many  of  them  glanced  tentatively  at  her. 
She  passed  them  by  with  cold,  averted  face, and  everyone 
knew  what  it  meant, — Tommy  had  gone  and  told  her  all. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  55 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  long-expected  day  had  come.  The  ladies' 
german  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  conjecture  or  prep 
aration.  But,  oh,  through  what  trials  had  not  that 
end  been  attained  and  what  a  whirl  of  events  had  been 
precipitated,  all  in  the  space  of  forty-eight  hours,  upon 
the  busy  garrison.  The  fierce  gale  that  ushered  in  the 
week ;  old  Bryan's  escapade ;  his  daughter's  strange 
introduction  to  the  — th ;  the  searching  party  from 
"  F"  troop,  and  the  frozen  fingers  and  noses  that  re 
sulted;  Blake's  mysterious  mishap,  and  that  equally 
mysterious  mission  of  Mr.  Ray's  to  Major  Granger  the 
moment  that  grave  and  spectacled  staff-officer  returned 
to  his  post.  These,  one  and  all,  would  at  any  other 
time  have  proved  abundant  food  for  gossip  and  con 
jecture.  There  was  the  excitement,  too,  consequent 
upon  news  of  heavy  fighting  of  the  winter  column 
among  the  mountains  far  to  the  north,  and  the  tidings 
that  the  wounded  were  being  sent  in  thither.  There 
was  mourning,  too,  among  many  soldier-hearts  for  the 
brave  young  lives  snuffed  out  in  savage  combat.  But 
what — what,  said  the  ladies,  was  all  this  compared  with 
the  terrific  social  cataclysm  that  followed  Tommy's 
election  as  leader  of  their  german?  Never  was  a 
party  of  womenkind  so  nearly  distracted  as  when  the 
shoppers  returned  from  town  that  memorable  afternoon 


56  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  precipitated  themselves  in  congress  assembled  upon 
the  colonel's  quarters. 

There  was  no  long  speculation  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
undoubted  and  undeniable  cut  given  on  the  public, 
streets  by  Mrs.  Granger  to  the  fair  sisterhood  from  the 
fort.  Mrs.  Waldron,  of  the  Riflers,  had  already  heard 
from  friends  in  town  that  no  words  could  do  justice  to 
Mrs.  Granger's  state  of  mind.  Mr.  Hollis  had  in 
vited  her  to  be  his  partner  for  the  german,  so  she  had 
hastened  to  tell  some  of  the  social  leaders  of  the  little 
metropolis;  she  had  accepted;  made  all  her  arrange 
ments,  whatever  they  may  have  been  ;  and  then  he  had 
come  to  her  in  deep  embarrassment  to  say  that  he  must 
ask  her  to  release  him  from  the  engagement,  and  she 
had  just  dragged  from  him  what  the  ladies  of  the  — th 
had  said  about  her.  Never  had  she  known  such  an  insult 
in  all  her  life.  Nothing  could  induce  her  to  attend  the 
german  now,  or  to  recognize  at  any  future  time  any 
of  the  ladies  of  that  regiment.  She  had  heard  from 
the  Eleventh  how  rude  the  men  could  be,  but  she  never 
dreamed  such  conduct  possible  in  civilized  women. 
Of  course,  her  town  friends  sympathized  with  her 
openly  and  deeply,  so  long  at  least  as  she  was  present ; 
and  said  no  end  of  uncomplimentary  things  about 
these  new  people  out  at  the  fort,  but  as  promptly 
modified  their  views  when  discussing  the  matter  with 
Mrs.  Waldron,  who  was  a  woman  of  sense  and  knew 
the  whole  story. 

All  the  same,  that  afternoon  congress  was  a  stirring 
affair. 

"  They're  having  a  hen  convention  up  at  the  colo 
nel's,  and  there's  the  very  devil  to  pay,"  said  Mr. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE  57 

Wiikius,  bluntly,  as  he  dropped  in  to  inquire  how 
Blake  was  feeling,  and  found  that  lank  invalid  sitting 
in  an  easy-chair,  with  his  long  legs  sprawled  half  across 
the  room,  his  faithful  comrades  Ray  and  Truscott  sit 
ting  silently  by.  Nobody  laughed,  and  Wilkins 
presently  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  convention  of 
another  kind  was  going  on  right  here,  and  that  he  was 
not  wanted.  Long  experience  with  the  trio  had  taught 
him  respect  for  their  wishes,  and  he  presently  took 
himself  away. 

"Did  Mrs.  Truscott  go,  Jack?"  queried  Blake, 
presently,  looking  up  with  his  one  undamaged  eye 
from  under  the  bandage  that  encircled  his  head. 

"  No,"  was  the  brief  answer ;  tl  she  begged  off  on 
plea  of  much  to  do  at  home.  Mrs.  Stannard  holds  her 
proxy,  if  matters  come  to  a  vote,"  he  added,  with  his 
grave  smile.  Both  he  and  Ray  had  early  divined 
that,  however  humorous  the  situation  might  seem  to 
most  of  the  men,  there  was  no  fun  in  it  for  Blake. 
He  winced  at  the  mere  mention  of  Mrs.  Granger's 
name. 

"  Hollis  said  he  wanted  to  come  in  and  see  you  this 
morning,  Blake,"  said  Mr.  Ray,  after  a  pause.  "I 
told  him  you  were  asleep,  and  that  after  the  german 
would  do." 

"  He  resigned  the  leadership,  did  he  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes ;  but  of  course  they  can't  accept,"  answered 
Ray.  "  The  Lord  preserve  them  !  what  a  stampede 
they're  in  this  moment !  They're  no  worse  off  than 
Granger,  though.  Wish  you  could  have  seen  his  face 
when  I  called,  Jack ;  Blake's  left  eye  isn't  a  circum 
stance  for  blackness." 


58  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Truscott's  hand  was  lifted  in  silent  caution.  He  sat 
where  Blake's  drooping  moustache  could  not  entirely 
hide  the  lines  about  his  mouth,  and  he  saw  what  Ray 
did  not,  but  the  latter  took  the  hint. 

"  Has  Sergeant  Winsor  got  back  from  the  ranch  ?" 
he  asked. 

"  Yes.  Old  Bryan  is  all  right  now,  and  I  hope  it 
will  be  a  lesson  to  him.  The  old  skinflint  would  have 
frozen  stiff  in  five  minutes  more  if  Blake  hadn't  found 
him  just  when  he  did.  Think  of  his  attempting  to 
ride  back  in  the  teeth  of  that  gale  rather  than  pay 
hotel  bills  for  a  stay  over  night. 

"  He  claims  he  was  thinking  of  his  daughter,"  said 
Blake,  "  so  Mrs.  Freeman  tells  me.  Isn't  she  a  loving- 
hearted  woman  ?  You  know  she  is  going  to  send  for 
Nan  to  come  down  and  spend  the  night  with  her ;  the 
child  longed  so  to  see  the  german,  and  Mrs.  Freeman 
has  taken  a  great  fancy  to  her,  and  made  the  old  man 
promise  she  should  come.  She  and  the  captain  drove 
up  there  last  evening  again." 

"  The  chaplain  tells  me,"  said  Truscott,  slowly,  "  that 
that  child  has  looked  after  Bryan  like  a  wife  ever  since 
her  mother  died.  Just  fancy  what  a  hard  life  it's  been  ; 
and  in  town  they  will  have  it  he's  rich  enough  to  send 
her  to  the  very  best  schools  in .  the  East.  That  girl 
will  be  an  heiress  one  of  these  days,  and  is  absolutely 
untaught." 

"  Why,  can't  Mrs.  Freeman  talk  the  old  miser  into 
doing  the  proper  thing  by  the  child  ?"  asked  Kay.  "  If 
she  can't  persuade  him,  I  don't  know  who  can.  She's 
at  the  conference,  isn't  she,  Jack  ?" 

Truscott  nodded  ;  he  was  tapping  his  boot-toes  with 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  59 

his  light  walking  stick, — an  old  trick  of  his, — and 
thinking  intently.  Presently  he  started  up. 

"  Well,  it  is  time  for  me  to  go  homeward.  Stop 
and  see  me  a  minute  before  you  move  further  in  this 
matter,  Ray.  I'll  leave  you  with  Blake  awhile  now." 
Then  turning  to  the  invalid :  "So  you  really  want  to 
go  over  there  to-morrow  night,  old  man,  and  look  on?" 

Blake  nodded.  He  was  in  one  of  his  rare  moods 
of  taciturnity.  "'Twill  be  only  a  '  looker-on  in 
Vienna/  Jack,  through  a  peep-hole  in  the  flies." 

"  There  will  be  several  more  of  us  and  of  our  ladies 
with  him,  Jack,"  put  in  Ray.  "  Two  or  three  who 
are  in  mourning  and  can't  dance,  but  want  to  see." 

"  Oh,  all  right,"  said  Truscott ;  "  I  probably  shan't 
dance  much,  so  I'll  come  in  and  have  a  little  chat  with 
you.  Ah  !  the  council  has  adjourned,  I  see ;  now  for  a 
report  of  proceedings." 

But  just  what  took  place  at  that  formidable  congress 
no  man  ever  exactly  knew.  No  stenographic  reporter 
being  present,  and  phonographs  being  unheard  of  at 
the  time,  only  verbal  testimony  could  be  adduced,  and, 
oddly  enough,  no  two  accounts  could  be  made  to  fully 
tally.  There  was  no  sign  of  vacillation  among  the 
councillors,  however,  as  they  came  briskly  down  the 
road.  Mrs.  Atherton's  carriage  was  already  at  her 
door.  Mrs.  Freeman  and  Mrs.  Gregg  quickly  bundled 
themselves  into  their  furs  and  wraps  and  came  forth, 
looking  very  business-like. 

"  By  Jove  !  they're  going  down  to  beard  the  lioness 
in  her  den,  Jack,"  laughed  Ray,  as  he  followed  his  tall 
friend  to  the  door ;  and  for  a  moment  the  two  stood 
there  looking  at  the  animated  scene  up  the  road,  then 


60  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Truscott  spoke  a  word  or  two  in  low  tone  and  stalked 
away.  In  his  overcoat  of  dark. blue,  heavily  trimmed 
with  fur,  the  ex-adjutant  was  already  beginning  to  look 
bulky. 

"  Is  it  presumptuous  to  ask  the  result  of  the  confer 
ence?"  queried  he  of  Mrs.  Stannard,  who  nodded  laugh 
ingly  to  him  as  she  opened  her  own  door,  just  beyond. 
She  shook  her  head. 

"  Wait  a  moment  till  I  have  seen  Luce,"  she  an 
swered;  "then  I  am  coming  in  to  report  to  Mrs. 
Truscott.  Perhaps,  though,  Mrs.  Turner  will  tell  you 
first." 

That  Mrs.  Turner  was  dying  to  tell  somebody  was 
evident,  for  the  pretty  features  of  that  volatile  young 
woman  were  darkened  by  a  frown  and  a  pout  of  won 
drous  dimensions  as  she  came  down  the  walk,  fairly 
bombarding  Mrs.  Wilkins  with  explosive  comments  on 
something  that  had  ruffled  her.  The  captain,  however, 
had  no  great  desire  to  satisfy  his  natural  curiosity  at 
such  a  fount,  and  would  have  slipped  quietly  within 
doors  had  she  not  seen  and  called  to  him, — 

"  Oh,  Captain  Truscott,  wait !  I  know  Mrs.  Truscott 
will  want  to  hear  all  about  it,  and  I'll  just  come  in  and 
tell  her." 

It  was  beyond  him,  of  course,  to  refuse.  He  opened 
the  door,  and  there  was  Mrs.  Grace,  looking  very  ex 
pectant,  happy,  and  bubbling  over  with  laughter.  She 
had  heard,  and  well  knew  just  what  was  passing  in 
Jack's  mind,  and  so  decided  to  put  a  stop  to  all  ex 
tended  confidences  or  calumnies  by  throwing  his  big 
circular  over  her  shoulders,  and  coming  boldly  forth 
and  meeting  the  visitor  half-way. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  61 

"I  saw  the  carriage,  and  Mrs.  Atherton  and  the 
others  getting  ready,  and  couldn't  help  coming  out  to 
wish  them  good  luck  and  safe  return,"  she  laughed. 

"  Then,  of  course,  you  know  what  was  done  ?"  said 
Mrs.  Turner,  her  cheeks  a  dangerous  red. 

"  I  did  not,  until  I  saw  the  carriage/' 

"But  now  you  understand,  of  course?  Isn't  it 
shameful  ?  A  committee  of  three  to  go  down  on  their 
knees  to  Mrs.  Granger,  and  beg  her  to  forgive  us  and 
come  and  lead  our  ball ;  and  our  colonel's  wife  at  the 
head  of  it.  Oh  !"  with  a  stamp  of  her  foot  and  a 
vicious  biting  of  her  pretty  lips.  "  If  your  mother 
were  only  back  with  us  now,  Grace,  such  things 
couldn't  happen  in  the  — th.  She  wouldn't  permit  us 
to  be  humiliated.'7 

"  I  can  hardly  fancy  mamma  as  young  enough  to 
take  any  more  active  part  in  a  german  than  that  of 
receiving,'7  said  Mrs.  Truscott,  well  knowing  how. her 
mother's  imperious  disposition  had  set  this  very  lady's 
tongue  to  wagging  against  her  time  and  again.  A  peep 
up  into  the  captain's  face  was  additional  incentive  to 
put  the  younger  matron  upon  her  guard. 

"  Well,  don't  you  think  it's  simply  monstrous  that 
now  that  Mrs.  Atherton  should  insist  on  our  all  vir 
tually  apologizing  to  Mrs.  Granger,  because  that  high 
and  mighty  dame  saw  fit  to  cut  us  ?" 

"  Well,  do  you  mean  it  is  solely  Mrs.  Atherton's 
doing?"  smiled  Grace,  linking  her  hands  about  her 
husband's  stalwart  arm  and  shamelessly  drawing  close 
to  his  side, — "  publicly  cuddling  him,"  as  Mrs.  Tur 
ner  disdainfully  expressed  it  afterwards.  "  I'm  sure 
I  thought  that  quite  a  number  agreed  that  there  must 


62  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

be  no  misunderstanding  whatever,  and  that  it  was  really 
her  due  that  the  managers  should  assure  her  that,  so 
far  from  resenting,  as  she  was  told,  they  ratified  Mr. 
Hollis's  choice." 

"Grace  Pelham  Truscott!  If  your  mother  could 

hear  you Well !  What  do  you  think  she  would 

say,  Captain  Truscott?  Fm  sure  you  had  abundant 
reason  to  know  she  could  express  herself,"  flashed  Mrs. 
Turner,  well  knowing  that  in  this  allusion  to  a  prom 
inent  landmark  in  regimental  traditions  her  shaft  would 
find  its  sting. 

But  Truscott's  armor  of  calm  superiority  seemed  im 
pervious  as  ever.  A  grave  smile  was  lurking  under  his 
moustache,  as  he  glanced  down  at  the  picture  of  pouting, 
petulant  womanhood  before  him. 

"  Mrs.  Pelham  would  have  had  no  other  course  in 
this  matter  than  that  which  most  of  the  other  ladies 
seem  to  have  taken." 

"  Most  of  them  !  Just  only  those  who  are  under 
Mrs.  Atherton's  thumb,  and  don't  dare  call  their  souls 
their  own,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Turner,  still  full  of  battle 
and  excitement.  "  She  would  have  made  it  lively  for  Mr. 
Hollis,  though,  even  if  she  had  to  abide  by  his  choice. 
That's  what  your  mother  would  have  done,  Grace." 

"That  is  quite  possible,"  smiled  the  captain,  irnper- 
turbably.  "  In  which  action  I  fancy  she  would  have 
had  your  entire  sympathy.  Now  here  comes  our 
embassy." 

And  as  he  spoke,  the  colonel's  carriage  came  whirl 
ing  down  the  road,  bearing,  bundled  in  robes  and  furs, 
Mrs.  Atherton  and  her  two  coadjutors  of  the  commit 
tee  who  nodded  and  smiled  to  Grace  as  they  went 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  63 

spinning  by,  Mrs.  Truscott  waving  her  handkerchief 
about  her  bonny  head  in  parting  salute  ;  Mrs.  Turner 
obstinately  turning  her  back. 

"  Did  you  see  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Gregg.  "  She  wouldn't 
even  look  at  us,  and  she  ought  to  be  thankful  she 
doesn't  have  to  go." 

"  I'm  sure  I  wish  none  of  us  had  to  go,"  said  the 
colonel's  wife,  "  and  I  wish  we  were  well  out  of  it. 
Now,  just  one  word.  Of  course,  she  must  see  us  when 
we  send  in  our  cards,  and  I  shall  open  the  subject  in 
stantly,  and  close  it  in  just  as  few  words  as  I  know  how. 
You  needn't  laugh,  Mrs.  Freeman,  I  can  be  very  concise 
when  I  try." 

"  Oh,  I'm  laughing  with  joy  that  I  don't  have  to  do 
the  talking,  and  shivering  with  premonition  of  the 
freezing  she  has  in  store  for  us." 

"  Freeze  or  no  freeze,  she's  got  to  come  down,"  were 
the  determined  words  of  the  social  head  of  the  regi 
ment,  for  when  that  accomplished  lady  resolved  on  a 
point  it  was  apt  to  be  carried,  no  matter  who  opposed. 
And  so,  just  after  the  trumpets  chorused  the  "  retreat," 
back  came  the  embassy,  triumphant,  with  all  eyes  upon 
them. 

"  Well  ?"  said  the  colonel,  as  he  lifted  her  ladyship 
from  the  carriage,  while  Coyle,  the  "  striker,"  lugged  out 
the  robes  and  enabled  the  chief  to  unload  the  other  dames. 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you  presently.  Oh,  she  had  to  come 
down,"  nodded  Mrs.  Atherton,  sagely,  as  she  saw  signs 
of  mirthful  question  as  to  the  success  of  her  mission 
quivering  about  the  corners  of  her  husband's  hand 
some  mouth.  "She  just  had  to.  But  if  you  think  it 
fun  to  thaw  out  an  iceberg,  just  try  Mrs.  Granger." 


64  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"Indeed,  colonel,  we  never  could  have  faced  her 
without  Mrs.  Atherton,"  said  Mrs.  Gregg.  "She 
would  have  withered  Mrs.  Freeman  and  me." 

"  Yes-s,  I  know  how  awe-inspiring  my  wife  can  be," 
laughed  the  colonel.  "  Now,  my  dear,  you  should  in 
sist  on  your  colleagues  coining  in  and  having  a  glass 
of  sherry  in  honor  of  your  successful  diplomacy." 

"And  have  the  whole  post  flocking  over  here  in  five 
minutes  to  get  the  news, — and  all  the  sherry  in  the 
house.  Colonel,  you're  wild.  Here's  Captain  Gregg 
now,  and  Mr.  Billings  will  be  delighted  to  see  Mrs. 
Freeman  home.  Won't  you,  Mr.  Billings?"  with 
that  confident  proprietorship  which  the  colonel's  wife 
must  ever  feel  in  a  loyal  adjutant. 

"  I'm  here  for  the  express  purpose,"  proclaimed  Mr. 
Billings.  "  If  I  go  home  without  full  details  of  the 
result  of  your  mission,  Mrs.  Billings  will  boomerang 
me  back  here  for  particulars." 

"  Well,  Evelyn"  (the  ladies  had  been  schoolmates, 
you  will  understand),  "you  can  tell  Mr.  Billings  ;  but 
mind,  not  a  word  elsewhere  until  we  meet  to-night." 

And  so,  as  Mrs.  Freeman  tripped  away,  escorted  by 
her  stanch  friend  the  adjutant,  she  gave  a  little  shiver 
of  relief  and  rejoicing. 

"  I  wouldn't  go  through  another  such  scene  for  any 
thing.  Captain  Freeman  told  me  just  how  it  would 
be,  but  I  couldn't  believe  a  woman  would  be  so 
repellent." 

"What  did  she  do?"  queried  Mr.  Billings,  not 
unnaturally. 

"Nothing.  Just  stood  like  a  tragedy  queen — a 
Mary  Stuart — and  looked  at  us.  Do  you  know  she 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  65 

never  asked  us  to  sit  down  until  just  as  we  were 
going?" 

"  Well,  she's  coming,  isn't  she  ?" 

"  Coming  ?  Yes.  Why,  the  woman  has  one  gown 
never  yet  worn,  and  Mrs.  Waldron  says  she  has  had  it 
reserved  for  this,  just  to  utterly  paralyze  us  all.  She 
has  to  come.  There  will  never  be  such  a  chance,  here 
abouts  at  least,  until  that  gown  is  entirely  out  of  style ; 
and  I'm  told  it's  the  loveliest  thing  ever  brought  from 
Paris." 

But  here  a  brace  of  boisterous,  rosy-cheeked  children 
threw  themselves  upon  her  from  around  the  corner  of 
her  cottage  and  clamored  for  their  supper.  Captain 
Freeman  made  his  appearance,  lounging  at  the  door, 
and,  hugging  her  babies  to  her  heart,  the  blissful 
mamma  evidently  had  no  further  time  for  words,  and 
Mr.  Billings  trudged  on  along  to  his  own  roof-tree, 
where  his  better  half  awaited  him. 

"  Well,  does  she  lead  ?" 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know/*  answered  Mr.  Billings, 
blankly.  "She's  coming,  though,"  he  averred,  tri 
umphantly,  unwilling  to  appear  uninformed  of  the 
great  result. 

"Coming?  Of  course,"  was  the  withering  reply. 
"  Any  woman  knows  that.  The  one  thing  we  want  to 
know  is,  will  she  lead?  Well,  your  tea's  Avaiting," 
she  added,  with  despairing  sigh.  It  seems  there  are 
just  some  things  which  most  men  are  too  hopelessly 
stupid  ever  to  understand. 

But  by  tattoo  that  night  the  result  was  everywhere 
known.  Mrs.  Granger  could  not  but  accept  the  over 
tures  made  her  in  all  good  faith.  She  was,  indeed, 
e  6* 


66  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

glad  to  find  that  she  had  been  misinformed  as  to  the 
remarks  made ;  she  would  be  glad  to  accept  the  charm 
ing  invitation  of  the  ladies  of  the  — th  for  the  german  ; 
but  as  to  leading — on  that  point  she  must  consult  her 
husband. 

"  And  I  just  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  air  with 
which  she  said  it,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Gregg.  "  If  ever 
wifely  devotion,  injured  innocence,  and  matronly  dig 
nity  were  thrown  into  one  downward  sweep  of  the 
lashes,  it  was  there.  She'd  make  a  fortune  on  the 
stage.  I  wish  I  had  her  gifts, — of  that  kind,  that  is," 
she  added,  hastily,  for  Mrs.  Gregg  would  not  have  it 
supposed  for  an  instant  she  envied  any  woman  her 
figure.  It  was  a  point  on  which  she  was  easily 
content.  Too  easily,  said  her  associates. 

At  tattoo  Mrs.  Granger's  note  arrived,  and  Major 
Granger  himself  was  the  bearer.  Leaving  it  in  the 
hands  of  Mrs.  Atherton,  saying  courteously  there  was 
no  reply  and  that  he  wished  to  see  the  colonel,  he 
joined  that  officer  and  begged  to  be  shown  to  the 
quarters  of  Lieutenant  Blake.  The  results  of  tattoo 
roll-call  were  just  being  reported  out  on  the  moonlit 
parade,  and  no  sooner  had  Mr.  Ray  made  his  precise 
salute  and  statement  of  the  presence  of  his  troop  than 
the  colonel  called  him  to  his  side. 

"  Major  Granger  is  here,  and  wishes  to  see  Mr. 
Blake;  will  you  show  him  over  to  your  quarters?" 

"  I  will  show  him  over,  sir,  certainly,"  said  Ray. 
"  This  way,  major." 

In  silence  the  two  officers  strode  across  the  level 
sward,  across  the  frozen  acequia  and  the  little  parapet 
of  bunch-grass  at  the  edge  of  the  parade,  the  only  place 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  67 

where  the  snow  seemed  to  settle.  Other  dark  figures 
were  stalking  through  the  dim  light  towards  the  long 
row  of  brown  cottages.  One  of  these  the  lieutenant 
hailed  in  low  tone. 

"  Oh,  Truscott,  hold  up  a  moment !"  And  the  tall 
est  of  the  number  held  up  accordingly,  gravely  lifting 
his  forage-cap  with  evident  surprise,  but  without  a 
word,  when  he  saw  who  was  his  friend's  companion. 
Silently  the  three  crossed  the  hard  frozen  roadway  and 
finally  reached  the  white  gate  in  front  of  Ray's  quar 
ters.  One  or  two  men  whom  they  passed  glanced  back 
quickly  as  they  caught  sight  of  the  grim,  spectacled  face 
between  the  two  brown-moustached  troopers,  then  found 
it  expedient  to  linger  a  moment  at  their  own  gate-way 
and  look  curiously  towards  Ray's.  It  was  there  the 
trio  halted. 

"  These  are  Mr.  Blake's  quarters,"  said  Mr.  Ray, 
turning  sharply  and  confronting  Major  Granger  at  the 
gate.  Like  Roderick  with  Fitz- James,  he  had  led  his 
convoy  safe  "  to  Coilautogle  Ford,"  as  had  been  agreed  ; 
but  now  there  was  steely  menace  in  his  voice.  He  chal 
lenged  the  purpose  of  his  coming,  Truscott  standing 
calmly  by : 

"  And  now,  what  may  be  your  pleasure,  major  ?" 

"  Is  Mr.  Blake  sleeping  ?"  was  the  response,  as  the 
spectacled  eyes  gazed  fixedly  beyond  towards  the  dark 
door- way,  as  though  ignoring  all  opposition. 

"  Asleep  or  awake,  sir,  it  makes  no  difference,  as  you 
ought  to  know.  Let  rne  remind  you  now  in  all  cour 
tesy  that,  after  our  conversation,  there  can  be  no  com 
munication  on  your  part  with  Mr.  Blake  except 
through  me." 


68  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Pooh  !"  was  the  impatient  reply  ;  "  I  recognize  no 
middlemen  in  such  matters,  Mr.  Kay,  and  I  want  no 
airs  or  graces." 

"  Pardon  me  one  moment,  sir.  Words  such  as  you 
are  using  only  make  matters  worse.  If  you  have  any 
thing  to  say  or  to  send  to  Mr.  Blake,  Captain  Truscott 
will  inform  you  and  well  knows  that  I  am  designated 
to  receive  it.  He  refuses  to  see  you,  sir,  in  person." 

"  By  God  !  Mr.  Ray,"  was  the  wrathful  answer, 
as  the  elder  man  looked  vengeance  at  his  placid  oppo 
nent,  "  you  are  mixing  yourself  in  this  matter  most 
impudently.  I  know  your  damned  Kentucky  customs, 
and  I  won't  be  governed  by  them." 

"  You  will  be  governed  by  the  customs  of  gentlemen 
in  like  cases,  major,"  was  the  response,  in  the  same 
placid,  almost  pacificatory  tone.  Ray  disdained  to  take 
note  of  personal  affronts  when  handling  a  matter  for  a 
friend.  "However  little  you  may  be  accustomed  to 
them,  you  will  find  it  necessary  to  observe  these  little 
airs  and  graces,  as  you  call  them,  though  you  do  not 
belong  to  a  combatant  branch  of  the  service." 

"  I've  been  too  long  in  the  army  to  take  lessons 
from  young  whip-snappers,"  shouted  Granger,  in  a 
rage.  "  If  I'm  not  permitted  to  see  Mr.  Blake  I'll 
make  it  my  business  to  herald  this  matter  in  a  way 
you'll  suffer  for.  The  army  shall  hear  of  it." 

"  And  that  portion  of  it  on  which  you  are  an  encum 
brance  may  possibly  sympathize  with  you,  sir,  but  the 
rest  of  it  won't.  Look  you  here,  Granger.  You  don't 
fight,  it  seems,  so  I  shall  not  tell  you  just  exactly  what 
I  think  of  you ;  but  the  least  a  man  in  your  position 
can  do  is  to  guard  his  tongue.  You  are  a  regular 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  69 

attendant  at  church,  it  seems,  though  the  saints  forbid 
I  should  call  you  a  Christian  ;  but  I  am  minded  of  a 
bit  of  the  catechism  I  learned  when  a  boy  that  strikes 
me  as  signally  applicable  to  you  in  your  department : 
Keep  thy  hands  from  picking  and  stealing,  thy  tongue 
from  evil  speaking,  lying,  and  slandering." 

"You'll  rue  this,  sir.  You'll  rue  it,"  coughed 
Granger,  hoarse  with  rage. 

"  Don't  shake  your  fist  at  me,  Granger.  Keep  that 
for  your  wife." 

The  major  recoiled  a  pace  as  though  struck,  then 
stood  and  shook  and  glared  at  Ray ;  but  he  dropped 
his  hands  at  once.  He  seemed  choked  with  rage  and 
unable  to  speak. 

"  Have  you  more  to  say,  sir  ?  Did  you  suppose  no 
one  knew  ?  You  poor  devil  !  Take  him  away,  Jack." 
And  Truscott  led  the  major  silent  from  the  scene.  Some 
doors  banged  up  and  down  the  row.  "  Taps"  was  float 
ing  out  on  the  still  night-air  when  the  official  of  the 
staff  department  was  bundled  into  his  ambulance, — not 
her  landau, — and  Truscott  passed  him  out  over  the 
sentry-line  by  the  shortest  road  for  home.  Granger 
had  attempted  one  word  with  the  captain,  but  was  cut 
short. 

"  I  must  decline  to  discuss  the  matter  with  you,  sir. 
It  lies  between  you  and  Mr.  Ray." 

And  so  the  great  day  of  the  german  was  here.  It 
was  known  that  something  took  place  down  at  Ray's 
gate  the  previous  night.  It  was  known  that1  Mrs. 
Granger's  ultimatum  was  that  she  would  attend,  but 
would  not  dance ;  and  then  at  last  was  the  arrangement 
made  that  Mr.  Hollis  should  lead  alone. 


70  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

That  night,  just  as  Mr.  Tommy  was  smilingly  lead 
ing  forth  Mrs.  Turner  to  begin  the  second  figure,  just 
as  the  full  orchestra  of  the  — th  swung  into  the  magic 
rhythm  and  verve  of  the  "  New  Vienna,"  the  cavalry 
sergeants  stationed  by  the  flag-draped  entrance  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  brilliantly-lighted,  beautifully-deco 
rated  room  with  its  fringe  of  lovely  women  and  at 
tendant  officers,  drew  back  the  shrouding  folds  of  the 
colors,  and — there  she  paused  as  it  were  at  the  threshold 
and  seemed  to  bid  them  gaze.  For  a  moment  lights, 
flowers,  music,  partners,  all  were  forgotten.  Hoi  1  is 
and  Mrs.  Turner,  as  though  transfixed,  stood  with  the 
rest  and  gazed,  gazed  their  fill. 

Behind  the  canvas  flies  on  the  stage,  a  tall  slip  of  a 
girl,  with  great  brown  eyes  and  hair  like  a  mane  of 
ruddy  bronze,  gave  a  gasp  of  wonderment  and  delight. 
"  Oh,  isn't  she  beautiful !"  and  instinctively  stretched 
forth  a  hand  to  the  tall,  pallid  officer  who  was  peering 
through  an  eye-hole.  But  he  never  heard ;  never  re 
plied.  Again  she  spoke,  then  turned,  and  regarded 
him  wistfully,  wonderingly,  and  then  sat  down,  rest 
ing  her  chin  on  her  hand,  with  a  sigh  that  she  herself 
could  not  account  for;  with  eyes  that  never  left  his 
face. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  71 


CHAPTER    V. 

"WASN'T  that  theatrical,  madame?"  whispered  Mrs. 
Gregg  to  the  colonel's  wife  the  first  moment  she  could 
reach  her  ear. 

"Ah,  but  wasn't  it  effective?"  was  the  answer. 
"Did  you  ever  see  anything  more  magnificent  than 
that  gown  ?" 

"  Unless  it  were  the  figure  and  the  general  effect/' 
laughed  Mr.  Ray,  who  was  Mrs.  Atherton's  escort  at 
the  moment.  "She's  ruined  Tommy's  figure  for 
him, — figure  two,  I  mean, — for  no  one  would  care  to 
dance  until  he  or  she  had  gone  up  and  done  homage." 

"Your  friend  Mrs.  Granger  is  worth  seeing  this 
night,  anyhow,"  said  Mrs.  Wilkins,  boldly,  to  the 
leader  of  the  german  as  the  musicians  were  having 
their  brief  rest  before  beginning  the  third  figure.  "  It's 
all  Worth  though,  I  suppose." 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?"  asked  Mr.  Hollis.  "  I  never 
saw  her  when  she  wasn't  to  be  admired." 

"  Then  it  isn't  her  dress  that's  all  Worth  ?"  queried 
the  most  independent  woman  in  the  — th,  looking  with 
an  insolent  smile  up  into  the  perturbed  features  of  Mr. 
Hollis.  "  That's  all  Worth,  anyhow,  or  I  haven't  been 
in  Arizona  five  years  for  nothing." 

"  I'm  blessed  if  I  can  understand  you,  Mrs.  Wilkins. 
Do  you  want  an  introduction  ?  She's  surrounded  now." 


72  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

And  Hollis  looked  suspiciously  into  the  broad  face, 
half-mischievous,  half-quizzical,  grinning  up  into  his. 

"  Indeed,  no,  Mr.  Hollis.  When  I  do  I'll  be  pre 
sented  in  jew  form  by  calling  upon  her  in  proprya 
persony.  It's  the  gown  she  wears  that  I  most  admire, 
Tommy;  but  you  needn't  tell  her  that,  as  you  did 
what  the  other  women  said.  Move  on,  "VVilkins,"  she 
added  to  her  obedient  spouse,  whose  full  uniform 
seemed  more  than  usually  snug  and  unbecoming. 
"  The  old  man,"  as  he  already  spoke  of  himself,  was 
gaining  flesh  all  too  rapidly,  but  wisdom  came  not 
with  it. 

"  What  do  you  want  to  chaff  the  boy  for,  Jane  ?" 
he  protested.  "  Hasn't  he  worry  enough  ?" 

"You  mind  your  own  concerns,  Wilkins.  I  can 
take  care  of  mine.  It's  her  ladyship,  Mrs.  Atherton,  I 
want  to  salute  next.  Take  me  to  her." 

But  the  benevolent  design  was  not  carried  into  effect. 
"Her  ladyship"  saw  her  coming;  knew  well  that  the 
irrepressible  tongue  of  the  woman  would  immortalize 
itself  in  some  way,  and,  quickly  turning  from  the 
group  of  ladies  with  whom  she  was  chatting,  murmured 
to  Mr.  Ray, — 

"Quick,  take  me  over  to  that  party  of  towns 
people  before  she  can  reach  us, — Mrs.  Wilkins,  I 
mean.  I  know  she  means  to  say  something  horrid. 
Now  you'll  be  sure  and  take  Mrs.  Granger  out  this 
next  figure." 

"Oh,  she'll  be  led  out  often,  you 'may  depend  upon 
it,"  said  Ray,  deftly  evading  the  mandate.  "  Your 
commands  have  been  laid  upon  the  whole  regiment. 
The  colonel  takes  her  out  first,  I  suppose  ?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  73 

"  Certainly.  It's  arranged  that  Mr.  Hollis  starts  the 
next  figure  with  Mrs.  Freeman.  She  takes  out  the 
colonel,  and  he  goes  at  once  for  her.  This  night  every 
man  in  the  — th  must  stand  by  us  and  make  that  woman 
come  out  of  her  shell.  Afterwards  you  can  do  as  you 
please." 

At  this  instant  the  music  began.  All  promenaders 
on  the  floor,  with  the  strict  sense  of  discipline  that  per 
vades  a  military  cotillon,  at  once  sought  their  places. 
In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  entire  space  was  cleared, 
and  a  long  rectangle  of  glistening  white  canvas  shown 
under  the  swarm  of  Chinese  lanterns  pendent  from  the 
flag-draped  roof.  Both  long  sides  of  the  room  were 
taken  up  by  the  dancers ;  the  ladies,  in  their  dainty 
toilets  and  with  fluttering  fans,  seated,  each  with  her 
attendant  cavalier  in  full  uniform,  or  the  conventional 
black  and  white,  as  he  happened  to  be  military  or  civil 
by  profession.  Behind  the  row  of  camp-chairs,  sacred 
to  the  use  of  the  thirty  couples  in  the  dance,  was  a  row 
of  seats  for  lookers-on.  Right  in  front  of  the  stage 
were  the  pretty  tables,  on  which  were  heaped  the  favors 
made  with  such  loving  hands  by  the  ladies  of  the  regi 
ment  ;  and  here  were  seated  Mrs.  Waldron,  of  the  Riflers, 
and  Mesdames  Wilkins  and  Heath,  of  the  — th,  who, 
not  being  on  the  dancing-list,  had  kindly  consented  to 
dispense  the  dainty  trifles.  Mrs.  Wilkins  could  not  be 
left  out  in  the  cold  altogether.  She  was  loyal  to  her 
regiment,  a  wonderful  hand  in  helping  out  with  the 
punch,  the  supper,  etc.,  and  while  she  was  to  have  ex 
clusive  jurisdiction  in  the  supper-room,  still  she  could 
not  there  see  the  german,  and  that  would  never  satisfy 
her.  Mrs.  Wilkius  was  a  woman  who  wanted  to  see 
B  7 


74  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  hear,  as  well  as  say,  everything.  Down  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  long  room  a  number  of  officers  and  visitors 
stood  looking  on,  while  a  dozen  ladies  not  dancing  were 
seated  in  a  semicircle,  leaving  only  the  clear  space  that 
led  to  the  ladies'  dressing-rooms,  that  flag-draped  arch 
way  guarded  by  those  two  splendid-looking  troopers. 
The  entrance  to  the  men's  room  was  neither  draped  nor 
sentinelled.  In  there  lay  the  card-tables  for  those  who 
preferred  whist  and  a  quiet  smoke.  Beyond  that  the 
buffet,  where  Mrs.  Atherton's  own  redoubtable  D'Orsay 
— a  sable  dignitary,  who  had  been  attached  to  her  house 
hold  for  years — dispensed  champagne-punch  with  lavish 
hand.  Long  before  the  war  he  had  won  the  title,  when 
a  mere  stripling  Ethiop,  of  "  Count  d'Orsay,"  and  had 
attracted  the  colonel's  attention  in  the  early  days  of  the 
war  by  the  magnificence  of  his  manner  when  waiting 
on  the  officers  who  dropped  in  at  the  hotel  where  lie 
was  then  a  servitor.  D'Orsay  was  transferred  to  the 
personal  staff  of  the  young  officer  upon  his  accession  to 
the  command  of  a  brigade,  and  had  served  with  him 
ever  since.  The  men  called  him  Dorsey.  Two  trim 
maids — Mrs.  Atherton's  and  Mrs.  Freeman's — were  in 
attendance  at  the  ladies'  dressing-room.  These  rooms, 
as  well  as  the  space  partitioned  off  for  card-rooms,  etc., 
were  at  the  southern  end  of  the  long  wooden  barracks, 
and  the  windows  that  gave  them  light  by  day  were 
boarded  up  on  the  inside,  nor  was  there  admission  to 
them  except  through  the  main  entrance.  That  the 
maids,  after  attending  to  the  wants  of  the  various 
dames,  should  spend  most  of  the  time  close  by  the 
draped  entrance,  peeping  through  at  the  dance,  whis 
pering  to  each  other,  and  making  eyes  at  the  sergeants 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  75 

on  duty,  is  recorded  here  as  a  probability.  The  other 
details  are  matters  of  fact,  and  both  had  their  bearing 
on  the  subsequent  events  of  the  night. 

At  the  moment  when  the  music  for  the  third  figure 
began,  Mrs.  Granger,  superbly  poised  as  well  as  dressed, 
was  waving  her  fan  in  slow,  graceful  movement,  and 
conversing  graciously  with  a  party  of  officers  and  ladies, 
prominent  among  whom  were  Mrs.  Stannard,  leaning 
on  Captain  Turner's  arm,  and  Mrs.  Raymond  with 
Captain  Gregg,  while  several  of  her  friends  from  town 
stood  admiringly  by.  If  ever  she  had  seen  fit  to  re 
sent  the  language  of  the  ladies  of  the  — th,  as  reported 
to  her,  not  a  vestige  of  her  wrath  was  visible  to-night. 
No  more  graceful  dignity  than  she  had  shown  when 
greeting  the  reception  committee  could  have  been  pos 
sible.  After  the  momentary  sensation  that  attended 
her  appearance  at  the  barrier  she  had  laid  her  hand 
upon  her  husband's  arm  and,  with  a  look  as  though 
gently  chiding  him  for  having  kept  her  waiting  there 
in  that  embarrassing  way,  moved  slowly  forward  as 
though  in  search  of  the  officials  whom  she  should  first 
accost.  These  ladies  might  almost  be  said  to  have 
rushed  upon  her  in  their  determination  to  make  her 
welcome  cordial.  She  was  quickly  surrounded  and, 
transferring  her  hand  to  the  arm  of  Major  Waldron, 
released  her  spectacled  ghost  of  a  spouse  with  the  brief 
remark,  "  You  have  been  kept  too  long  waiting  for 
your  whist,  dear ;  I  won't  detain  you  now ;"  whereat 
Granger  had  lost  no  time  in  seeking  the  card-room. 
Waldron  was  still  at  her  side  when  the  music  began, 
and  at  the  instant,  and  before  her  escort  could  find  her 
a  seat,  Hollis  and  Mrs.  Freeman — two  beautiful  dancers 


76  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

— had  spun  across  the  canvas ;  the  latter,  with  her  red- 
gold  hair  all  one  sheen  of  ripples  and  her  lovely  face 
half-flushed  with  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  had 
fairly  thrown  herself  out  of  Tommy's  encircling  arm. 
He  would  have  been  only  too  glad  to  make  the  circuit 
of  the  room  with  so  exquisite  a  partner,  commanding 
all  eyes,  Mrs.  Granger's  included,  as  he  well  divined, 
for  he  was  at  his  best  when  on  the  floor.  But  Mrs. 
Freeman  was  one  of  the  conspirators,  and  would  brook 
no  delay. 

"  Just  a  turn,  now,  mind,"  she  beamed  up  into  the 
colonel's  face,  as  she  pinned  the  dainty  little  fan  beside 
the  corps  badge  on  his  breast.  "  Mrs.  Atherton  says 
not  a  moment  must  be  lost."  And  before  the  colonel 
had  "  half-settled  down  to  his  work,"  as  he  laughingly 
expressed  it,  she  had  as  abruptly  left  him  close  to 
where  Mrs.  Granger  was  just  gracefully  sinking  into  her 
seat. 

"  This  is  for  her,"  whispered  Mrs.  Freeman,  thrust 
ing  a  little  gilded  sabre  into  his  hand.  "  Pin  it  where 
the  yellow  ribbon  will  show  against  the  lace,  not  the 
silk."  And  then,  with  glowing  cheeks,  she  threw  her 
self  upon  her  tall  husband,  who,  never  dancing  him 
self,  could  never  resist  the  fascination  of  watching  her. 

With  the  eyes  of  half  the  room  upon  him,  the  colonel 
marched  straight  to  Mrs.  Granger,  holding  the  dainty 
toy  to  which  was  pendent  a  little  silver  number, — 
that  of  the  — th.  She  looked  at  him  with  utter  sur 
prise  as  he  bowed  with  soldierly  grace. 

"  The  first  sabre  we  lower  to-night  is  in  salute  to 
you,  madame.  May  I  have  the  honor  ?" 

"  Oh,  just  didn't  he  do  it  splendidly  ?     Didn't  I  tell 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  77 

you?"  said  Mrs.  Atherton  in  triumphant  delight  to 
Mrs.  Stannard.  "Come,  rise  up  Mrs.  Granger,  you 
are  conquered  now,"  she  continued  behind  her  fan. 
And,  as  any  one  could  see,  there  was  simply  nothing 
for  Mrs.  Granger  but  victorious  surrender.  She  had 
to  rise  that  the  colonel  might  affix  her  souvenir  to  the 
billow  of  creamy  lace  upon  her  breast,  but  she  could 
not  control  the  wave  of  crimson  that  swept  to  her  very 
brows,  and  her  eyes  flashed  their  pride  and  pleasure  as, 
with  winning  smile,  she  looked  up  into  his  face,  then 
placed  her  hand  upon  his  shoulder.  It  seemed  as 
though  the  whole  room  gave  a  sigh  of  relief  and  satis 
faction  as  the  colonel's  arm  slid  round  her  shapely 
waist,  and  away  they  went  in  long,  gliding  waltz-step. 
Nothing  but  a  deep-rooted  sense  that  no  demonstration 
would  be  appropriate  kept  down  the  impulse  to  applaud. 
In  another  moment  half  a  dozen  couples  were  circling 
and  whirling  about  them,  and  everybody  drew  a  long 
breath.  It  was  the  sensation  of  the  evening — until 
after  supper. 

Clark,  the  handsome  quartermaster,  was  dancing 
with  Mrs.  Gregg, — a  second  choice,  though  the  lady 
did  not  know  it.  He  had  asked  Mrs.  Truscott,  but 
that  fair  young  matron  had  begged  to  be  excused. 
"  We  are  only  going  for  a  little  while,  just  to  look  on, 
Jack  and  I,"  she  said ;  but  the  truth  was  she  actually 
would  not  engage  herself  to  any  man  for  even  three 
hours.  Jack  might  get  bored  and  want  to  go  home, 
or,  heavens !  Jack  junior  might  wake  up  while  she 
was  gone,  and  King  Baby  was  lord  of  all  just  now, 
even  the  stalwart  captain  being  deposed  in  his  favor. 
And  so,  leaning  on  her  husband's  arm  and  standing 

7* 


78  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

near  the  upper  end  of  the  room,  Grace  was  a  most 
interested  witness  of  the  scene  when  Clark  sprang  for 
ward.  His  partner  was  dancing  at  the  moment : 

"  Please,  Mrs.  Truscott,  just  one  turn." 

She  would  have  declined  again,  dearly  though  she 
loved  to  dance,  but  her  husband  bent  down  and 
whispered, — 

"Yes,  dance  a  few  minutes,  Grace.  I  want  to  slip 
behind  the  scenes  to  Blake." 

"  But  where  will  you  come  for  me  ?"  she  pleaded, 
looking  wistfully  back  with  her  heavily-lashed  eyes. 
"  Remember  Mr.  Clark  has  a  partner." 

"Mr.  Clark's  partner  is  out  most  of  the  time," 
laughed  that  gentleman,  rejoicing  that  he  had  his  prize. 
"  I'll  take  you  back  behind  the  scenes  as  soon  as  we 
have  danced.  I  want  no  other  fellow  to  cut  in  and 
get  you." 

Clark  was  an  admirable  waltzer  and  he  loved  to 
dance  with  Mrs.  Truscott,  whose  slender  foot,  he  swore, 
was  not  only  the  prettiest  but  the  lightest  in  the  regi 
ment,  and  they  made  a  perfectly-matched  couple  as 
they  seemed  to  float  away  over  the  canvas,  circling  in 
and  out  among  the  other  dancers.  It  was  a  violation 
of  the  strict  tenets  of  the  cotillon,  perhaps,  but  there 
was  abundant  room,  and  Tommy  Hollis,  so  far  from 
rebuking  Clark  for  his  unauthorized  appearance  on  the 
floor,  made  a  run  from  Mrs.  Turner's  seat  and  took  a 
slide  up  alongside. 

"  Now,  Mrs.  Truscott,  I  speak  for  the  next,"  he  cried. 

"  Hush,  sir,  you're  forgetting  Mrs.  Atherton's  in 
junction.  You  are  to  take  Mrs.  Granger  out  the  very 
next  figure." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  79 

"  That's  all  right,  but  this  one  isn't  half  over.  Wait 
a  moment."  And  with  that  he  whipped  out  his  little 
silver  whistle  and  signalled  the  dancers  to  their  seats. 
"Now  just  one  turn,  Mrs.  Truscott,  while  the  next 
couple  leads  out."  She  could  not  refuse.  It  seemed 
to  be  an  unwritten  law  among  the  officers  of  the  — th 
to  make  much  of  Mrs.  Truscott,  not  only  on  her  own 
account,  but  because  they  loved  her  old  father,  their 
former  colonel,  and  did  not  love  her  mother,  who  had 
vehemently  opposed  her  marrying  the  man  of  her 
choice  but  subsequently  had  so  far  relented  towards  him 
and  forgiven  her  as  to  display  an  entire  willingness  to 
live  with  them  the  year  round, — a  visitation  which 
the  colonel's  daughter  was  so  undutiful  as  to  discourage. 
She  and  Mrs.  Freeman  shared  about  equally  the  devo 
tions  of  the  entire  commissioned  force,  married  and 
single,  but  no  two  women  in  the  — th  cared  less  for  the 
distinction.  They  would  hardly  have  been  women 
had  it  been  a  matter  of  indifference.  Both  were  young, 
lovely  in  face  and  form,  frank  and  sweet  in  manner, 
and  both  of  them  hopelessly  in  love  with  their  own 
lords.  Just  as  Mrs.  Truscott  knew  he  would,  Tommy 
Hollis  swung  her  down  the  room  and  close  to  where 
Mrs.  Granger  sat,  like  a  queen  enthroned,  with  a 
group  of  courtiers  about  her.  She  was  fanning  herself 
with  slow,  languorous  movement,  her  eyes  glowing,  her 
cheeks  softly  flushed,  and  listening  apparently  with  rapt 
attention  to  the  words  of  Dr.  Pease  and  Captain  Ray 
mond,  who  were  at  the  moment  bending  over  her.  But 
she  lost  not  a  thread  in  Mrs.  Truscott's  dainty  toilet  as 
she  floated  by,  nor  did  she  fail  to  note  the  triumphant 
expression  in  the  misguided  Tommy's  face. 


80  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"How  charming  Mrs.  Truscott  is  to-night,"  she 
murmured  to  Captain  Raymond,  at  the  same  time  fixing 
her  eyes  on  that  young  matron  with  the  unmistakable 
look  a  woman  wears  when  she  wants  another  to  know 
she  is  talking  about  her. 

"  She  is  as  charming  as  she  looks,"  answered  Ray 
mond,  briefly ;  he  somehow  did  not  care  to  have  Mrs. 
Truscott  discussed.  "  Ah,  here  comes  Captain  Gregg 
to  take  you  out.  You  are  destined  to  be  the  belle  to 
night, — as  usual,"  said  that  diplomatic  gentleman. 

"  Yes,  we  are  all  mad  with  jealousy  already,  Mrs. 
Granger,"  declared  Mrs.  Raymond,  who  was  deposited 
alongside  by  her  partner  just  in  time  to  catch  the  words. 
"  I've  seen  every  man  in  the  regiment  hovering  about 
you.  We  never  have  such  attention." 

"  I  can  name  three,  at  least,  who  haven't  been  near 
me,"  was  the  laughing  reply, — "  Captain  Truscott,  Mr. 
Ray,  and  Mr.  Blake." 

"  You  don't  tell  me !"  answered  Mrs.  Raymond,  re 
joicing  that  there  were  exceptions  after  all.  "I'm  sure 
I  thought  every  man  in  the  room  had  thrown  himself 
at  your  feet.  I  can't  imagine  why  Captain  Truscott 
and  Mr.  Ray  haven't  come ;  but  Mr.  Blake  isn't  here 
to-night;  besides — he's  one  of  our  intractables,  you 
know." 

"  One  of  your  intractables  ?  Do  you  mean  he  is  not 
fond  of — society?" 

"Oh,  no;  only  he's  indifferent.  I  assure  you  we 
all  gave  up  Mr.  Blake  as  a  case-hardened  bachelor  long 


ago." 


"  I  can  understand  that  as  possible  anywhere  except 
in  the  — th,"  was  Mrs.  Granger's  flattering  response, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  81 

as  Captain  Gregg  led  her  to  the  floor,  and  she  smiled 
back  most  winningly  over  his  broad  shoulder. 

"  Is  Mr.  Blake  still  suffering  so  much  that  he  could 
not  attend  ?"  she  presently  asked  of  Gregg,  as  they 
slowly  waltzed  down  the  room. 

"  Oh,  he's  getting  on  all  right ;  but  a  man  with  a 
black  eye  doesn't  care  to  show  on  the  floor.  Reckon 
he's  in  the  whist-room  by  this  time,  having  a  quiet 
game." 

"  Mr.  Blake — in  the  card -room  !"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Granger,  looking  up  in  uncontrollable  alarm.  "  No ; 
no  more  just  now,  captain,"  she  continued,  disengaging 
herself  from  his  encircling  arm.  "  I  think  I'll  rest 
one  minute,  and — could  you  get  me  a  glass  of  water  ?" 
She  had  drawn  herself,  as  she  spoke,  through  the  little 
circle  of  lookers-on  at  the  lower  end  of  the  room 
nearest  the  dressing-room. 

"  Wouldn't  you  rather  have  punch  ?  It's  undeni 
able,  and  its  a  regimental  treat  to  see  D'Orsay  ladle  it 
out.  It's  right  here  in  the  card-room." 

"  And  do  you  allow  ladies  in  your  card-room  in  the 
— th  ?  I'm  sure  your  predecessors  never  did  last  year." 

"Allow  them?  Why,  certainly!  If  we  didn't, 
they  wouldn't  allow  us.  The  ladies  just  run  this  regi 
ment,  Mrs.  Granger." 

"  How  lovely  for  the  ladies !"  was  the  reply,  while 
a  peculiar  smile  hovered  about  the  corners  of  her  mouth. 
"  I  think  I  have  heard  something  to  that  effect.  Yes, 
I  will  go  in  just  to  see  the  redoubtable  D'Orsay." 

There  were  only  two  parties  at  the  card-table  as 
they  entered.  Major  Granger  was  seated  at  the  one 
farthest  from  the  door- way  and  the  punch-bowl.  Mrs. 


82  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Granger's  eyes  quickly  searched  the  apartment  and 
peered  into  the  dressing-room  beyond.  To  the  men 
who  glanced  up  from  their  game  she  vouchsafed  a 
radiant  smile,  and  then  bent  low  over  her  husband's 
shoulder  with  almost  caressing  gesture.  He  looked  up 
quickly,  his  sallow  face  lighting  with  unmistakable 
pleasure  as  he  gazed  at  her  glowing  beauty. 

"  I  see  you  are  enjoying  it  all/'  he  said. 

"Oh,  it  is  simply  perfect!  The  ladies  of  the  — th 
Cavalry  have  no  peers  as  entertainers,"  she  replied, 
beaming  upon  the  upturned  faces  of  the  major's  com 
panions  as  she  spoke ;  and  Lieutenant  Wilkins  sprang 
to  his  feet. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  ladies  of  the  — th,  permit  me, 
madame,  to  express  their  appreciation  of  a  compliment 
from  such  high  authority,"  he  said,  in  his  old-fashioned 
and  ponderous  way.  "And  may  I  not  pledge  Mrs. 
Granger  in  a  glass  of  our  delicious  punch?"  he  added, 
striding  at  once  from  the  table  to  where  D'Orsay,  a 
sable  statue,  stood  behind  the  huge  bowl  of  dainty 
china, — Mrs.  Atherton's  especial  pride.  Granger 
scowled  malevolently  at  the  interruption  to  his  game ; 
but  Mrs.  Granger  beamed  anew. 

"  Lucky  for  him  Mrs.  Wilkins  is  at  the  far  end  of 
the  other  room,"  murmured  Gregg  into  the  pink  ear  so 
close  to  his  blonde  moustache.  But  Mrs.  Granger 
would  not  hear.  She  was  fascinating  Wilkins  now. 

"  I  really  thought  nothing  could  tear  you  enthusi 
astic  whist-players  from  your  game,"  she  laughed. 
"  And  are  you  and  Mr.  Heath  the  only  gentlemen  who 
care  for  it  ?  I  supposed  there  would  be  half  a  dozen 
tables  going." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  83 

"  Not  when  our  ladies  have  a  ball,  raadame.  Then 
every  dancing  man  must  do  his  duty.  I'm  past  my 
dancing  days,  and  the  young  fellows  like  the  captain 
here  have  to  do  my  share  for  rne. — Just  a  drop  more, 
D'Orsay. — Madame,  the  — th  drinks  your  health." 

"  So  Mr.  Blake  is  not  a  devotee  to  whist  after  all/' 
said  Mrs.  Granger,  as  they  came  forth.  "  Perhaps  he 
prefers  your  cavalry  pastime  of  poker."  And  she 
glanced  up  with  a  face  in  which  merriment  and  mis 
chief  were  at  least  the  surface  indications,  yet  her  eyes 
watched  him  eagerly. 

"  Blake  ?  Oh,  no,  he  never  plays  poker.  It  seems 
on  a  decline  since  Ray  quit ;  but  I  never  heard  of 
Blake  as  a  pokerist.  Blessed  if  I  know  what  Blake 
does  do  to  amuse  himself  when  he  isn't  gabbling  or 
reading  Shakespeare.  That  fellow's  a  sort  of  enigma 
to  me.  To  be  sure,  I  never  served  with  him  before 
this  winter,  and  he  wasn't  with  us  in  Arizona." 

"  In  what  is  he  so — enigmatical  ?"  she  slowly  asked, 
her  eyes  downcast  at  the  moment,  her  voice  low. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  He's  a  ranting,  declamatory, 
noisy  sort  of  fellow  when  with  the  crowd,  always 
spouting  poetry  or  making  bad  puns  and  parodies ;  has 
no  intimates  but  Ray  and  Truscott,  and  they  swear  by 
him,  while  the  rest  of  us  don't  seem  to  get  the  hang 
of  him.  The  ladies  think  they've  got  his  equation 
down  fine." 

"Pardon  me,  Captain  Gregg, — got  what?" 

"Pardon  me,  Mrs.  Granger,  that  is  inexcusable 
slang;  it  means  they  think  they  have  sized  him  up." 

"  I  see.  Got  him  down  and  sized  him  up,  and  that 
means ?" 


84  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Oh,  it  means  they  understand  him  better  than  we 
do." 

"  Yes ;  and  what  do  the  ladies  say  ?" 

"Why,  they  think  he's  been  jilted  by  somebody 
that  he  was  a  good  deal  in  love  with,  you  know." 

"  How  very  romantic !  And  has  he  no  particular 
friends  among  them? — none  whom  he  trusts  or  talks 
to?" 

Blake?  Not  that  I  know  of.  Mrs.  Stannard,  Mrs. 
Freeman,  Mrs.  Truscott, — I  suppose  he  likes  them  most. 
He's  in  Freeman's  troop,  you  see,  and  then  he  and 
Truscott  read  together  a  good  deal." 

"Oh,  and  that  reminds  me, — you're  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Blake's,  are  you  not  ?"  She  looked  up  eagerly. 

"I?  Why,  of  course.  I  like  him  first  rate.  So 
does  the  whole  regiment,  for  that  matter." 

"  He  dropped  a  little  note-book,  or  something  of  that 
kind,  when  he  was  at  our  house  the  other  night,  after 
— after  his  horse  fell.  Could  you  give  it  to  him  for 
me?  I  hardly  know  whom  to  ask.  You're  sure  he 
isn't  here? — isn't  coming?" 

"  He  certainly  isn't  here,  and  it's  midnight  now.  I 
don't  think  he'll  be  over  at  all.  Of  course  I'll  be  very 
glad  to  give  it  to  him." 

"Then  I'll  go  into  the  dressing-room  a  moment  and 
get  it,"  she  quickly  answered,  slipping  her  hand  from 
his  arm ;  but  at  the  instant  two  officers  burst  through 
the  ring  of  spectators  and  made  a  rush  for  her, — Mr. 
Hollis  winning. 

"  Where  on  earth  have  you  been  ?"  he  exclaimed, 
looking  into  her  face  with  glowing  eyes.  "  We  want 
to  start  the  third  figure, — come."  And  as  all  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  85 

room  was  watching  and  waiting,  she  could  but  go. 
Obedient  to  his  signal,  the  music  began  at  once,  and 
at  last  Mr.  Hollis  was  leading  with  Mrs.  Granger. 

Behind  the  scenes  on  one  side  of  the  little  stage  sat 
Mrs.  Billings  with  some  friends  whose  recent  mourning 
prevented  their  attendance  on  the  floor.  On  the  other, 
in  the  dim  light  of  a  lamp,  Nannie  Bryan  and  two 
girls  of  her  own  age — daughters  of  officers  of  the 
garrison — were  peeping  through  the  various  eye-holes 
and  chattering  volubly.  'Close  at  hand  sat  Lieutenant 
Blake,  silent,  and  absorbed  in  the  scene  in  the  ball 
room.  Beside  him  at  the  moment  Truscott  was  stand 
ing,  his  face  graver  than  usual. 

"  Never  saw  Mrs.  Truscott  looking  lovelier  than  she 
does  to-night,  Jack,"  said  Blake  at  last,  feeling  that  it 
was  time  he  said  something. 

"  She  seems  very  well  this  winter,"  was  the  reply ; 
for  Truscott  well  knew  that  Blake's  thoughts  were  not 
of  her.  "  How  long  will  you  stay  here,  Blake  ?  It  is 
getting  to  be  known  that  you  are  looking  on." 

"  Yes;  two  or  three  of  our  ladies  have  been  in  with 
the  customary  assurances  that  it  would  be  simply  per 
fect  if  it  were  not  for  my  absence.  Pretty  figure  I'd 
make  to-night.  I  suppose  he's  playing  whist,  Jack  ?" 

"  Yes ;  he  will  not  be  apt  to  come  out  except  for 
supper.  Ray  will  come  here  to  you  after  this  next 
figure." 

But  Blake  had  ceased  to  listen.  At  this  moment  in 
excited  whispers  the  young  girls  near  by  announced 
some  important  event. 

"She's  dancing  with  Mr.  Hollis,"  said  one.  And 
Blake's  eye  was  back  at  its  peep-hole.  Truscott  waited 

8 


86  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

one  moment  in  silence  and  then  stepped  softly  away. 
Nannie  Bryan  crept  quietly  to  the  camp-stool  by  Blake's 
side. 

"  If  it  hadn't  been  for  me — and  papa — you  would 
have  been  dancing  with  her  yourself,  wouldn't  you, 
Mr.  Blake?"  she  whispered,  looking  sorrowfully  up 
into  his  wan  face.  For  a  moment  there  was  no  answer ; 
then  he  turned  suddenly  : 

"  I  dance  with  her,  Nan  ?  Not  if  there  wasn't 
another  woman  in  the  wide  world !" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  37 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SUPPER-TIME  had  come  and  gone.  Thanks  to  the 
admirable  arrangements  of  the  committee,  all  the  guests 
had  been  seated  at  once  at  long  tables  set  in  the  adjoin 
ing  building,  which  was  connected  with  the  dancing- 
hall  by  a  canvas-covered  way.  The  band,  too,  had 
been  well  fed  and  otherwise  comforted,  and  were  now 
strolling  back  to  their  places  on  the  stage,  while,  over 
the  champagne,  the  colonel  was  proposing  a  toast  to 
the  guests  of  the  — th,  and  his  honor  the  mayor  of  the 
neighboring  municipality  was  covering  himself  with 
glory  and  the  ladies  with  confusion  by  lavish  allusions 
to  the  loveliness  and  grace  of  their  entertainers.  Major 
Granger,  seated  near  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  long 
tables,  had  slipped  away,  signalling  to  his  boon  com 
panions  of  the  whist-party  to  follow  him.  Wilkins 
— nothing  loath — was  quickly  at  his  side,  for  he  could 
not  drink  his  fill  of  champagne  with  the  basilisk  eyes 
of  his  better  half  upon  him,  while  over  at  the  card- 
room  there  was  peace  and — the  punch-bowl.  But  the 
other  two  did  not  so  quickly  follow.  They  were  promi 
nent  "  cattle-growers"  from  town  who  could  play  whist 
any  evening,  and  who  preferred  listening  to  the  flow 
of  soul  and  feasting  their  eyes  on  the  beauty  of  the 
women  at  the  banquet-board.  The  mayor  was  in  the 
midst  of  his  peroration  as  Granger  and  Wilkins  van- 


88  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

ished,  unnoticed  except  by  one  or  two  dames  whose 
eyes  were  everywhere,  and  by  the  colonel,  who  saw  it 
with  a  feeling  of  relief.  As  the  senior  officer  present 
from  the  supply  departments,  Granger  would  possibly 
have  to  be  called  upon  for  a  few  remarks,  especially 
as  Mrs.  Granger  had  gone  in  on  the  colonel's  arm, 
honored  above  all  women,  and  was  now  seated  at  his 
right.  But  Atherton  did  not  fancy  Granger,  and  felt 
sure  he  would  add  nothing  to  the  hilarity  or  spirit  of 
the  occasion. 

"  I  had  intended  calling  on  the  major  next,"  he  mur 
mured  to  Mrs.  Granger,  who  had  just  ceased  applaud 
ing  one  of  the  mayor's  most  eloquent  periods,  "  but  I 
see  he  has  gone.  I  fear  our  speeches  have  bored  him. 
The  — th  isn't  very  strong  in  such  matters.7' 

"  Why,  Colonel  Atherton  !  What  could  have  been 
more  appropriate  than  your  opening  words;  and  I  am 
sure  Captain  Freeman  was  delightful." 

"Oh,  some  of  our  younger  officers  would  do  us 
credit,  no  doubt.  Blake  is  our  best  card,  poor  fellow ; 
we  miss  him  to-night,  for  he  never  fails  to  bring  down 
the  house.  By  the  way,  how  fortunate  it  was,  Mrs. 
Granger,  that  his  horse  fell  so  close  to  your  home.  If 
that  had  happened  out  on  the  prairie  he  might  have 
frozen  before  the  men  could  find  him.  What  a  fearful 
night  that  was !" 

"  It  was  fearful,  indeed,  colonel Oh,  bravo ! 

bravo  !"  she  cried,  clapping  her  richly-jewelled  hands,  as, 
with  a  magnificent  bow,  his  honor  concluded  a  glowing 
apostrophe  to  the  Juno-like  goddess  to  whom  all  men 
do  homage, — the  beauteous  consort  of  the  gallant  colonel 
of  the  ever-glorious  — th, — and  took  his  seat  amidst 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  89 

thunders  of  applause,  while  Mrs.  Atherton,  from  be 
hind  her  fan,  glanced  in  mingled  deprecation  and 
merriment  at  her  laughing  cronies  up  and  down  the 
sparkling  board,  yet  recovered  herself  with  becoming 
promptitude  when  she  saw  Mrs.  Granger's  glass  and  a 
score  of  others  raised  in  her  honor,  and,  with  mighty 
blushes,  but  most  gracious  smile,  she  touched  hers  to 
the  brimming  beaker  extended  by  the  now  triumphant 
civil  magnate.  There  were  shouts  for  various  names 
to  respond  for  her,—  " Stannard,"  "Truscott,"  "Ray 
mond,"  "Ray,"  "Ray,"  "Ray."  And  then  it  was 
discovered  that  Ray  was  gone. 

"  If  Blake  were  only  here  now,"  almost  groaned  the 
colonel.  "  There's  no  one  to  replace  him,"  he  added,  as 
he  glanced  up  and  down  the  long  tables,  passing  in  review 
the  array  of  his  officers  scattered  here  and  there  among 
the  guests.  Then  somebody  began,  half  ironically,  to 
shout  for  Hollisj  and  the  towns-people  promptly  and 
loudly  echoed  the  cry.  It  was  time  for  decided  meas 
ures.  The  colonel  knew  that,  like  the  Irishman  of 
tradition,  Tommy  could  not  open  his  mouth  without 
putting  his  foot  in  it.  He  caught  Raymond's  eye,  and 
though  that  gentleman  nodded  suggestively  towards 
Truscott, — who  persistently  looked  the  other  way, — 
Atherton  would  stand  no  temporizing.  Up  with  you, 
he  signalled,  and  rapped  for  order;  and  Raymond 
slowly  found  his  feet,  and  had  the  consummate  good 
luck  to  preface  his  remarks  by  referring  to  himself  as 
an  unworthy  substitute  for  either  one  or  both  of  the 
two  gentlemen  best  known  to  their  friends  from  town, 
—Messrs.  Ray  and  Blake,  who  were  unavoidably  ab 
sent.  Whereat  the  room  resounded  again. 

8* 


90  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  And  has  Mr.  Blake  always  been  so  indispensable 
a  feature  in  your  social  gatherings?''  asked  Mrs. 
Granger,  in  low  tone  to  the  colonel,  as  Raymond 
labored  on. 

"  Ever  since  I  have  known  him,"  was  the  answer. 
"  Although  he  and  I  were  both  comparative  strangers 
to  the  regiment  until  within  a  year  or  two.  I  had 
hardly  seen  him  since  the  war.  He  transferred  in  at 
the  reorganization  ;  then  he  didn't  go  out  to  Arizona 
until  just  as  they  were  coming  back  ;  but  he  is  one  of 
the  characters  of  the  service." 

"Eccentric,  is  he  not, — at  times?" 

"  Well,  possibly.  Oh,  but  that  reminds  me,  I  think 
I  heard  that  you  knew  him  several  years  ago."  And 
then  it  suddenly  flashed  upon  the  colonel  that  the  de 
scription  of  the  meeting  that  had  occurred  at  Stannard's 
quarters  warranted  the  belief  that  Blake  had  sought  to 
avoid  her  entirely.  He  colored  at  the  consciousness  of 
having,  even  unwittingly,  asked  an  embarrassing  ques 
tion.  But  Mrs.  Granger's  lovely  eyes  were  raised  with 
out  a  shadow.  She  saw  that  he  was  discomfited,  and 
with  consummate  tact  put  him  at  his  ease. 

"  Yes,  we  used  to  meet  quite  frequently  when  he 
was  a  young  officer  just  entering  service,  and  I  just 
entering  society ;  and  I  liked  him  very  much,"  she 
answered,  frankly.  "  But  that  was  so  long  ago  I — I 
fancy  he  has  almost  forgotten  it."  And  then,  alert  to 
everything  going  on  about  her,  she  joined  in  the  ap 
plause  that  was  mercifully  accorded  Raymond's  effort. 
Other  remarks  followed,  brief  and  not  over-brilliant, 
and  then  Mrs.  Atherton  gave  the  signal  to  rise,  and 
the  merry  throng  came  drifting  back  into  the  ball-room 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  91 

just  as  Mr.  Ray  appeared  from  the  side  door  leading 
to  the  stage,  followed  by  a  soldier  who  bore  a  big  tray 
laden  with  empty  plates  and  glasses. 

"You  reprobate  !"  said  Mrs.  Atherton,  shaking  are- 
proving  finger  at  the  buoyant  young  fellow.  "  Where 
have  you  been  ?  We  needed  you  to  respond  to  the 
toast  in  our  honor,  and  you  had  run  and  hidden,  I 
verily  believe." 

"  I  was  feeding  the  ladies  at  the  peek-hole,"  said 
Ray.  "And  now  I'm  going  to  see  some  of  them 
home." 

"  Oh,  surely  you're  not  going  yet !  You  haven't 
asked  Mrs.  Granger  to  dance." 

"  I  haven't  danced  with  anybody  to-night,  madame. 
I'm  a  little  lame  just  now."  He  hated  to  refer  to  the 
burning  pain  in  his  thigh  where  the  Cheyenne  bullet 
had  torn  its  way  only  six  months  before ;  but,  better 
that  than  admit  that  the  real  reason  was  that  he  could 
not  ask  a  lady  to  dance  when  he  was  on  hostile  terms 
with  her  husband.  Mrs.  Atherton  was  all  prompt 
sympathy. 

"  Oh,  true,  I  know.  And  is  Mr.  Blake  there  yet  ? 
Did  he  see  it  all  ?" 

"  Yes,  but  he  wants  to  stay,  and  the  girls  won't  listen 
to  the  idea  of  going.  Old  Bryan's  daughter  looks  as 
though  she  thought  it  fairy-land.  You'll  forgive  my 
going,  won't  you  ?" 

"  Yes,  if  you  will  just  take  the  two  sergeants  at  the 
dressing-room  door  and  tell  Mrs.  Wilkins  we  want 
them  to  have  a  good  supper.  I  know  what  you  want 
to  go  for,  sir,"  she  concluded,  with  a  wise  nod  of  her 
queenly  head.  "  I've  heard  all  about  her,  and  I  think 


92  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

it's  high  time  you  came  and  confessed  to  me."  But 
Ray  broke  laughing  away  and  signalled  to  the  sergeants 
to  follow  him  just  as  Mrs.  Granger,  leaning  on  the 
colonel's  arm,  reached  the  flag-draped  entrance. 

"  I  will  be  gone  but  a  moment,"  she  said,  as,  fol 
lowed  by  Mrs.  Raymond,  she  passed  within,  leaving  a 
little  knot  of  men  grouped  about  the  lower  end  of  the 
room.  Some  of  these,  rightly  conjecturing  that  once 
assembled  in  a  coterie  of  their  own,  the  ladies  would 
be  busily  chatting  until  the  music  again  struck  up, 
slipped  away  into  the  smoking-room.  Others  gathered 
in  a  social  chat.  Tommy  Hollis  was  flitting  ner 
vously  about,  eager  to  begin  the  next  figure,  and  Ray 
had  just  got  back  from  the  supper-room,  when  Mrs. 
Freeman,  with  a  pale,  scared  face,  suddenly  parted  the 
flags  at  the  entrance  and  peered  forth.  Ray  sprang 
instantly  towards  her.  He  knew  that  something  was 
wrong. 

"  Find  Dr.  Pease  quick  and  bring  him  here,  but  say 
nothing." 

The  doctor,  smoking  a  big  cigar,  was  one  of  the 
group  gathered  about  Granger's  whist-table,  where 
the  game  was  once  more  in  full  swing.  Ray  placed 
his  hand  on  his  arm  and  drew  him  quietly  to  one 
side. 

"You  are  wanted  in  the  ladies'  dressing-room,  quick," 
he  said  in  low  tone.  Pease  tossed  away  his  cigar  and 
slipped  past  the  jovial  party  now  gathered  about  the 
punch-bowl,  where  his  honor,  the  mayor,  was  telling  a 
story.  Major  Granger  glanced  up  a  moment,  followed 
him  with  his  eyes,  and  then  tossed  out  the  seven  of 
hearts. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  93 

"No  trumps,  partner?"  quickly  asked  the  civilian, 
looking  at  him  in  surprise. 

"I — I  beg  pardon.  I — I  thought  that  was  a 
diamond,"  answered  Granger,  hastily  throwing  out 
the  six  of  diamonds  and  attempting  to  withdraw  the 
other  card. 

"I  claim  a  revoke,"  said  Lieutenant  Wilkins, 
eagerly. 

"  You  can't ;  your  partner  hasn't  played  and  the  error 
was  rectified  in  time." 

"  Board's  a  play  !  board's  a  play  !"  exulted  Wilkins, 
his  red  face  flushing  redder,  and  the  punch  beginning 
to  show  in  little  beads  upon  his  forehead  and  in  the 
coating  of  his  tongue,  which  had  thickened  percep 
tibly.  "  I  leave  it  to  any  gentleman  here." 

"You're  wrong,  Wilkins. — You're  right,  major. 
Go  on  with  the  game.  Do  hold  your  tongue,  Patsy." 
These  and  other  exclamations  buzzed  about  the  board. 
But  Granger,  ordinarily  most  precise  in  play  and  dog 
matic  and  truculent  in  argument,  said  no  word  what 
ever.  He  seemed  deaf  to  the  discussion  and  dead  to 
the  game.  His  eyes  wandered  to  the  canvas  partition 
that  separated  them  from  the  ladies'  dressing-room. 
Suddenly  the  colonel  entered  and  came  straight  to 
wards  him,  and  one  or  two  men  noted  that  before  he 
spoke  a  word  or  had  reached  the  table  Granger  was  on 
his  feet,  looking  white. 

"  Major,  Mrs.  Granger  has  had  a  slight  attack  of 
faintness,  Possibly  you  had  better  go  in  a  moment. 
I  will  take  your  hand.  Whose  play  is  it?"  he  con 
tinued,  coolly  taking  the  vacant  chair. 

"  Diamonds  are  trumps,  colonel,  and  I  IIPVP  just  led," 


94  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

answered  Mr.  Ainslie.  "  Major  Granger  threw  on  a 
heart,  but  rectified  the  error  before  Mr.  Frazier  played. 
The  lieutenant  claims  a  revoke." 

"  Nonsense  I"  said  the  colonel.  "  It  was  your  king, 
I  presume.  Lead  again."  And  Wilkins  subsided, — 
there  was  no  arguing  with  the  chief. 

But  Major  Granger  did  not  return,  neither  did  the 
music  begin.  A  hush  had  gradually  fallen  on  the 
assembly.  Presently  it  was  known  to  everybody  that 
Mrs.  Granger  had  "  fainted  dead  away," — as  Mrs.  Tur 
ner  said, — and  still  lay  in  a  swoon. 

"  What  on  earth  is  she  fainting  for  this  time?"  added 
that  injured  lady.  "Is  she  subject  to  fits?  She 
dropped  like  a  log  the  night  Mr.  Blake  stumbled  into 
her  hall,  and  here  she  goes  again.  One  would  think 
she  had  done  enough  to  spoil  our  germaii  without  this 
sensational  climax." 

But  everybody  knew  Mrs.  Turner  was  wroth  at 
the  attention  lavished  on  the  major's  beautiful  wife, 
and  her  remarks  fell  on  unappreciative  ears.  It  is 
very  hard  to  take  the  part  of  one  woman  against 
another  who  is  manifestly  much  more  beautiful.  It 
was  ten  minutes  or  so  before  she  revived,  and  twenty 
before  the  music  was  resumed  and  the  german  went  on. 
Mrs.  Freeman  and  Mrs.  Raymond  remained  with  her, 
so  did  Dr.  Pease.  Meantime,  an  orderly  had  been 
despatched  for  the  landau.  She  had  insisted  on  their 
resuming  the  dance  at  once,  but  the  doctor  agreed  with 
her  that  she  had  best  go  home.  When  the  carriage 
was  announced  she  came  forth,  hooded  and  wrapped  in 
some  white  fleecy  mantle  than  which  her  face  could 
hardly  have  had  a  shade  more  of  color.  The  dance 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  95 

was  in  full  swing,  but  half  a  dozen  ladies  hurried  after 
her  to  the  door,  and  her  pathway  was  lined  with  men, 
eager  to  express  sympathy  or  to  be  of  service.  Mrs. 
Freeman  and  Mrs.  Raymond,  however,  did  not  come 
forth  from  the  dressing-room  until  some  minutes  after 
she  had  driven  away,  and  when  they  did,  their  answers 
to  thronging  questions  were  constrained.  It  was  Dr. 
Pease  who  supported  her  to  the  carriage,  Granger  fol 
lowing  in  their  wake,  somewhat  absently  saying  good 
night  and  his  thanks  for  the  sympathy  expressed  on 
every  hand.  The  colonel  himself  accompanied  the 
party  to  the  entrance,  and  the  adjutant  sprang  upon 
the  box  beside  the  driver  to  pass  the  carriage  over  the 
sentry  lines.  The  doctor  handed  Mrs.  Granger  in  and 
quickly  took  his  seat  by  her  side.  Granger  followed, 
his  back  being  now  to  the  front.  Captain  Truscott 
stepped  hastily  forth  and  turned  sharply  to  the  left  out 
of  the  bright  glare  that  shone  from  the  entrance  full 
upon  the  stylish  carriage  just  as  the  colonel  extended 
his  hand  to  wish  the  party  good-night.  And  Truscott 
was  just  in  time  to  intercept  a  tall  figure,  muffled  in 
an  officer's  cape,  and  to  bring  it  to  a  halt  by  the  brief, 
stern  words : 

"  Back,  Blake  !  Don't  you  see  the  colonel  ?  This 
will  never  do." 

And  then  the  landau  whirled  away.  Ten  minutes 
later,  when  Mrs.  Freeman  stole  behind  the  scenes  to  see 
how  her  prot£g&e  was  getting  on,  she  found  Nannie 
Bryan  looking  pale  and  tired ;  "  ready  to  go  home," 
she  said,  though  her  companions  were  still  alert, 
devoured  with  curiosity  and  interest.  What  had  hap 
pened  to  Mrs.  Granger?  they  begged  to  know.  One  of 


96  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

them — fierce  little  partisan  of  her  regiment  that  she 
was — thought  it  a  judgment  that  this  sudden  stroke  of 
illness  had  come  upon  her.  Blake  had  gone, — no  one 
knew  where  or  why,  unless  perhaps  it  was  the  silent 
child  who  sat  there  listless  and  weary.  Mrs.  Free 
man  danced  just  once  more,  then  stole  quietly  away 
and  took  her  home.  She,  too,  had  had  enough  of 
that  night's  german.  Something  was  afloat  that 
she  could  not  fathom,  but  that  made  her  pure  heart 
ache. 

Just  what  had  taken  place  can  best  be  gathered  from 
Mrs.  Raymond's  excited  recital.  She  had  followed 
Mrs.  Granger  closely  as  they  entered  the  dressing-room. 
Both  the  maids  were  at  the  door-way  at  the  moment, 
and  Mrs.  Granger  had  suddenly  uttered  a  cry,  rushed 
forward  and  picked  up  from  the  floor  a  handsome  seal 
skin  sacque.  Beside  it,  half  on  the  floor,  half  on  the 
chair,  was  the  white  mantle  she  wore  over  all.  Mrs. 
Granger  whisked  the  sacque  from  the  ground  and,  with 
cheeks  white  as  a  sheet  and  eyes  that  seemed  wild  with 
apprehension,  had  hurriedly  examined  one  pocket  after 
another ;  then  searched  the  floor  ;  then  had  as  hurriedly 
drawn  aside  the  folds  of  the  great  garrison  flag  that  was 
draped  across  the  room,  and  then  had  fallen  like  one 
stricken  dead.  There  was  a  long  rent  in  the  canvas 
behind  the  flag,  and  one  could  look  through  it  into  the 
men's  dressing-room  beyond.  What  she  had  lost, 
what  she  had  found,  what  she  had  seen,  no  one  knew. 
The  maid  declared  that  no  one  had  entered  the  room 
during  supper,  that  Mrs.  Granger  had  carefully  rolled 
and  folded  her  mantle  around  the  sealskin  sacque  when, 
she  arrived  and  placed  it  herself  upon  that  camp-chair 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  97 

in  the  corner.     Neither  one  of  them  could  account  for 
its  being  found  upon  the  floor,  unrolled. 

Another  thing  that  Mrs.  Freeman  saw  and  shrank 
from  telling,  but  that  Mrs.  Raymond  saw  and  told, 
was  that  when  Major  Granger  tendered  his  arm  to  his 
wife  to  lead  her  to  the  carriage,  she  utterly  recoiled 
from  him  and  turned  and  almost  clung  to  Dr.  Pease. 


98  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

BREAKFAST  was  served  at  a  decidedly  late  hour  in 
most  of  the  households  along  officers'  row  the  day  that 
followed  the  ladies'  germau.  The  colonel  and  his 
entire  commissioned  force,  of  course,  turned  out  at 
reveille,  as  was  the  rule  in  the  — th,  and  tramped 
sleepily  down  to  stables.  Some  of  the  youngsters, 
indeed,  had  not  gone  to  bed  at  all.  It  was  after 
three  o'clock  when  the  last  figure  ended,  and  everybody 
crowded  around  the  reception  committee  to  declare  it 
the  most  delightful  party  ever  given  at  the  fort, — "  Ever 
given  in  the  wide  world,"  said  the  enthusiastic  mayor, 
as  he  bowed  his  adieux  to  Mrs.  Atherton.  Hollis,  too, 
came  in  for  his  share  of  congratulation.  There  was 
no  question  as  to  his  ability  to  lead  a  cotillon  when 
once  fairly  started ;  and  Tommy  shook  hands  with 
everybody  and  received  his  ovation  with  all  proper 
modesty ;  but  down  in  the  depths  of  his  heart  there 
was  disquietude,  if  not  dismay.  Mrs.  Granger's  sudden 
illness  and  early  departure  from  the  scene  was  a  source 
of  profound  disappointment.  Indeed,  as  he  listened  to 
the  theories  and  speculations  that  fell  from  the  pretty 
lips  of  his  various  partners,  it  became  something  even 
worse. 

"  What  do  I  think  ?"  said  Mrs.  Wilkins.  "  It's 
as  plain  as  the  nose  on  your  face,  Tommy  Hollis 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  99 

There  was  something  in  that  gorgeous  sealskin  sacqtie 
that  wasn't  intended  for  her  husband,  but  he's  the  man 
that  got  it.  Maybe  it  was  a  letter  for  you,  Tommy." 

He  was  too  nervous  and  excited  to  go  to  bed  when 
finally  the  lights  were  extinguished  and  the  revellers 
had  strolled  homeward  across  the  parade.  He  knew 
perfectly  well  that  Mrs.  Turner  expected  him  to  escort 
her  to  her  domicile,  despite  the  fact  that  her  lord  was 
patiently  waiting  in  the  dressing-room  ;  but  he  dreaded 
the  questions  she  would  be  sure  to  ask,  and  the  com 
ments  she  would  not  fail  to  make.  He  would  not  even 
join  the  knot  of  youngsters  who  made  for  the  club- 
room  as  soon  as  they  got  out  of  their  dress-coats. 
Mrs.  Wilkins's  theory  had  taken  powerful  possession  of 
him  and  he  wanted  to  be  alone. 

But  there  was  no  dodging  the  crowd  when  stable 
duty  was  over  and  the  score  of  officers  came  strolling 
up  the  road, — the  youngsters  all  in  a  body.  He  had 
not  slept  a  wink.  He  had  been  turning  the  situation 
over  and  over  in  his  mind,  and  could  think  of  nothing 
else.  He  passed  in  review  all  the  events  of  his  year's 
acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Granger;  her  evident  preference 
for  his  society  at  the  very  start ;  the  delightful  winter 
and  spring  in  which  he  had  been  almost  always  her 
escort ;  her  avowed  fondness  for  him  as  a  partner  in 
the  dance  and  on  their  rides ;  then  her  unexpected 
journey  to  the  East,  and  the  prolonged  stay  at  the  sea 
shore.  He  well  remembered  the  lowered  voice  in  which 
she  had  made  the  announcement,  and  the  expression 
of  those  lovely  gray  eyes,  as  she  looked  up  into  his 
face. 

"  It  is  my  husband's  wish,"  she  said  ;  "  he  thinks  I 


100  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

need  the  change.      But,  are  you  not  coming  to  the 
East?" 

Poor  Tommy  !  He  could  ill  afford  it,  but  this  was 
fascination  beyond  anything  he  had  ever  dreamed  of. 
She  was  gone  when  the  — th  came  through  on  their 
way  to  the  Indian  country.  She  was  away  all  sum 
mer,  and  in  August  he  got  his  leave  and  spent  days 
with  her  at  the  sea-shore.  Would  he  ever  forget  those 
moonlit  nights  when  the  lazy  ground-swell  broke  boom 
ing  upon  the  sands,  and  sent  the  hissing  waters  to  her 
very  feet, — those  dainty  feet  with  their  wondrous  clocked 
stockings  and  the  high-heeled,  tan-colored  shoes.  People 
had  begun  to  look  at  him  askance  before  he  was  there 
forty-eight  hours ;  but  what  did  he  care  ?  He  knew 
no  one  there  and  cared  to  know  no  one  but  her,  and, 
as  for  her,  was  not  her  husband's  mother  there  to  see 
that  decorum  was  observed  ?  It  was  a  resort  where 
women  were  many  and  men  were  few  ;  where  the  band 
played  every  night  at  the  pavilion,  and  where  many  a 
girl,  partnerless,  looked  on  and  watched  that  beautiful 
Mrs.  Granger  dance  waltz  after  waltz  with  the  tall,  dis 
tinguished  young  officer  who  was  so  deeply  smitten  with 
her.  They  knew  well  enough  she  was  only  playing 
with  him  and  revelling  in  his  infatuation.  They  could 
see  what  he  could  not,  that  whenever  he  had  to  take  a 
few  days  for  the  home  people  other  men  came  down 
from  town  and  danced  in  his  stead.  She  had  half  a 
dozen  devotees  who  never  saw  one  another,  or,  if  they 
did,  regarded  each  other  only  with  the  pity  due  an  un 
successful  rival.  That  delicious  month  all  too  soon 
had  come  to  an  end.  He  had  gone  back  to  the  frontier 
to  accept  his  desired  transfer  to  the  cavalry ;  had 


CAPTAIN 

ridden  to  the  Black  Hills  to  meet  the  — th  on  their 
homeward  way,  and,  when  at  last  she  returned  from 
the  East,  had  hastened  to  throw  himself  again  at  her 
feet,  regardless  of  the  coldness  and  sarcasms  of  her 
rightful  lord.  Had  she  not  told  him  she  shuddered 
whenever  her  husband  drew  near  ?  Had  she  not  con 
fided  to  him  that  it  was  a  hateful  marriage  into  which 
the  prayers  of  a  beloved  father  had  forced  her?  Had 
she  not  half  confessed  that  only  in  his  society  did  she 
find  life  bearable  ?  She  was  so  lonely,  so  wretched,  so 
wronged ;  her  gay  society  manner  only  a  mask,  behind 
which  in  secret  she  made  her  moan.  How  lovely,  how 
pathetic,  how — ah,  yes,  how  enticing  she  looked  when, 
as  though  overwhelmed  by  the  contemplation  of  her 
weight  of  woe,  she  had  sprung  from  the  sofa  on  which 
she  was  reclining,  over  which  he  was  adoringly  bend 
ing,  and,  rushing  to  the  mantel,  had  thrown  her  lovely 
arms  aloft  in  tragic  despair,  then  pressed  her  filmy 
kerchief  to  her  eyes,  while  great  sobs  shook  her  frame, 
— that  willowy,  exquisite  form.  Poor  boy  !  No  won 
der  he  rushed  with  outstretched  arms,  passionately 
breathing  her  name, — Madeleine !  and  in  his  wild  in 
fatuation  would  have  clasped  her  to  his  breast  and  said 
heaven  knows  what.  But  no.  She  knew  her  role  to 
perfection.  The  jewelled  hand  gently  but  firmly 
warned  him  back.  With  what  a  world  of  sweet  resigna 
tion,  of  appealing  helplessness,  of  trust  and  confidence, 
of  sadly  smiling,  hopeless  sorrow  she  murmured, — 

"  No,  don't — don't  make  it  harder  than  I  can  bear, 
my  one  friend."  And  her  tear-wet  eyes  gazed  implor 
ingly  into  his,  though  she  let  him  seize  the  snowy  hand 
and  cover  it  with  his  mad  kisses.  Then,  was  she  not 

9* 


102  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

admirable  in  the  sudden  change  of  tone,  pose,  expres 
sion,  everything  with  which  she  went  on  ? — 

"  No,  Mr.  Hollis,  honestly,  I  think  you  ought  not 
to  attempt  D'Alroy ;  Captain  Hawtree  is  very  much 
more  your  style  if  you  will  make  up  a  little. — Come 
in,  dear.  We're  just  trying  that  scene  from  l  Caste/ 
Now,  do  it  again,  Mr.  Hollis,  and  you  see  if  Fm  not 
right,  major."  And  there  was  that  grim,  spectacled 
ghost  at  the  door- way,  looking  sardonically  on.  Tommy 
could  only  turn  all  the  colors  in  the  spectrum  and 
mutter,  "  Er — er— yes,  er— '  Caste/  "  but  thanked  God 
that  Granger  didn't  stay  to  hear  him  "  read  his  lines" 
again.  The  major  went  on  to  the  dining-room  in  those 
confounded  noiseless  arctics  of  his,  only  remarking  that 
the  rehearsal  seemed  realistic  enough  to  suit  the  most 
exacting  audience.  But  she  kept  gallantly  on  with 
her  instructions  as  to  the  "  business"  of  the  part  of 
D'Alroy  and  with  laughing  comment  on  his  lack  of 
ardor  in  the  role  of  a  lover,  until  Granger  once  more 
slouched  through  the  hall  and  let  himself  out  the  way 
he  had  not  come  in, — the  front  door, — and  then  she 
dropped,  nerveless,  into  the  great  arm-chair. 

And  yet,  with  the  fatuity  of  puppyhood,  Tommy 
Hollis  galloped  back  to  the  garrison  believing  himself 
the  hero  of  a  romantic  and  thrilling  love-affair  with 
the  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  woman  in  the 
West.  When  he  sought  to  see  her  again  she  whispered 
caution, — • 

"  Do  not  try  to  see  me  alone  any  more,  just  now, — 
not  until  I  tell  you."  And  obedient  to  her  behest  he 
had  ceased  going  thither  every  day,  and  yet  invented 
or  discovered  incessant  excuses  for  dropping  in  at  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  103 

depot,  as  all  men  at  the  fort  could  see  and  all  women 
knew  without  seeing.  Then  had  come  the  delicious 
interview  in  which  he  tendered  to  her  the  honor  of 
leading  the  german  to  be  given  by  the  ladies  of  his 
own  regiment,  crowning  her  queen  above  them  all. 
Then  had  followed  the  strange  and  startling  interrup 
tion, — Blake's  plunging  fall  through  the  door-way.  No 
wonder  she  fainted, — a  woman  whose  life  had  been 
such  a  nervous  strain.  Then  the  next  day's  visit  when 
he  could  not  see  her  alone  a  moment,  and  then  the  rue 
ful  interview  in  which  he  had  to  tell  her  he  had  re 
signed  the  leadership  and  must  ask  her  to  release  him. 
She  had  simply  enchained  him  the  more,  for  she  said 
no  word  to  him  of  indignation  on  heir  own  account;  it 
was  all  sorrow  that  he  should  have  suffered  so  much 
for  her  sake. 

"  I  must  see  you — talk  with  you,  just  a  few  minutes 
to-night,"  she  whispered,  as  they  danced  together, 
though  her  face  was  averted,  smiling  upon  the  lookers- 
on  as  she  spoke.  "  Is  the  side  door  to  the  stage  open  ? 
Didn't  I  see  Captain  Truscott  go  in  there  just  now? 
Couldn't  we  be  alone  there  one  minute  ?"  His  heart 
had  bounded  with  thrilling  delight. 

"  I'll  fix  it  somehow/'  he  murmured. 

But  fate  had  fixed  it  otherwise.  Could  it  be  as 
Mrs.  Wilkins  had  said, — it  was  a  letter  from  him 
that  Granger  had  captured?  He  joined  the  crowd 
of  sleepy,  red-eyed  youngsters,  hoping  that  in  their 
questions  or  comments  something  might  be  elicited. 
They  were  talking  of  the  slit  in  the  canvas  partition, 
but  he  knew  all  about  that;  he  had  examined  it  the 
last  thing  before  putting  out  the  lights.  A  big  bureau 


104  CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  ^ 

stood  in  the  men's  dressing-room  beyond  the  card-  and 
punch-room.  It  was  not  visible  from  the  table  or  from 
where  D'Orsay  presided  over  the  bowl.  It  was  an 
easy  thing  for  any  one  with  a  sharp-pointed  knife  to 
slit  the  canvas  any  desired  distance,  slip  through,  raise* 
the  folds  of  the  flag  beyond,  and  "raid'7  the  ladies 
dressing-room  while  the  maids  were  engrossed  in  the 
scene  on  the  dancing-floor.  It  could  have  been  done 
unobserved,  and  who  could  have  done  it  but  Granger? 
It  was  an  awfully  embarrassing  affair.  But  for  Mrs. 
Raymond  nothing  really  need  have  been  known ;  but 
she  had  noted  Mrs.  Granger's  impetuous  rush  to  the 
partition,  had  seen  her  raise  the  folds  of  the  flag,  then 
fall  prone  to  earth,  and  of  course  the  moment  after  she, 
too,  had  peered  in  there  and  had  caught  sight  of  the 
back  of  a  bureau  through  the  long  vertical  slit.  This 
confirmed  her  theory  that  some  one  had  stolen  some 
thing  from  Mrs.  Granger's  sacque  and  she  could  no 
more  keep  it  to  herself  than  refuse  to  listen  to  some 
exciting  bit  of  gossip.  She  had  shown  it  to  half  a 
dozen  women  in  less  than  half  a  dozen  minutes,  and 
before  the  ball  broke  up  almost  every  one  had  been  in 
to  take  a  peep  at  that  mysterious  gap.  The  colonel 
had  looked  very  grave  indeed,  and  had  given  Mr.  Clark 
directions  to  see  that  it  was  not  disturbed  all  night. 
It  might  be  possible  to  discover  what  sort  of  a  knife 
had  made  the  slit,  for  everybody  knew  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  in  the  canvas  when  that  bureau  was  moved 
in  during  the  afternoon.  The  colonel  had  questioned 
D'Orsay  as  to  the  men  who  had  entered  the  dressing- 
room.  Nearly  all  of  them  had,  said  that  dignified 
servitor,  both  civilians  from  town  and  officers  of  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  105 

post.  The  maids  stuck  to  their  sto:y,  too,  and  alto 
gether  a  most  unpleasant  sensation  was  afloat.  Granger 
might  ransack  his  wife's  pockets  as  much  as  he  pleased 
outside  the  garrison.  That  was  none  of  their  busi 
ness.  But  when  it  came  to  slicing  up  their  partitions 
and  abusing  their  hospitality  in  this  way,  "  By  gad," 
said  old  Stannard,  "  it's  burglary,  whoever  did  it/' 
And  yet  when  Hollis  joined  the  party  the  chatter 
ceased,  for  they  had  been  discussing  the  possible  object 
which  Granger  might  have  had  in  view,  and  Tommy, 
thirsting  for  further  information,  found  it  impossible  to 
extract  a  word  except  in  response  to  direct  question. 
It  really  seemed  to  them  as  though  Blake's  prophecy 
had  come  true,  for  almost  all  the  officers  in  the  regi 
ment  were  feeling  that  Hollis  had  indeed  made  a  tre 
mendous  mess  of  things. 

In  silence  the  party  trudged  up  the  slope  and  came 
once  more  in  view  of  the  colonel,  who  had  stopped 
short  and  was  reading  a  despatch,  evidently  just 
brought  him  by  the  soldier  telegraph  operator.  He 
folded  it,  walked  slowly  on,  accompanied  by  the  major 
and  Captain  Freeman. 

"Now  what's  up?"  queried  Mr.  Dana.  "There 
goes  the  orderly  for  Billings.  It's  a  detail  of  some 
kind.  Tommy,  you  may  have  a  chance  to  lead  a 
charge  instead  of  a  gerrnan." 

And  that  it  meant  something  immediate  and  im 
portant  was  apparent  from  the  fact  that,  instead  of 
turning  in  at  their  respective  quarters,  the  colonel  and 
his  staff-officer  went  on  together  and  disappeared  within 
the  gloomy  portals  of  the  office  building. 

"What  makes  you  think  it  is  a  detail  for  a  scout?" 


106  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

asked  Hollis  nervously  of  Mr.  Dana,  as  they  stood  for 
a  moment  to  note  whether  or  no  the  colonel  went  to 
the  office. 

"  You  don't  read  the  signs  of  the  times,  Lymph ; 
there  were  Indians  on  the  Chugwater  last  week  and 
over  at  Scott's  Bluffs  two  days  ago.  There  is  that 
convoy  of  wounded  coming  down  from  the  Powder 
River;  there  is  the  paymaster's  ambulance  going  up 
to-day.  Three  reasons  why  some  of  us  may  look  for 
orders  for  a  winter  march.  Isn't  that  so,  Hunter?" 

"  Sure  as  shooting,  Tommy  ;  and  ten  to  one  it  will 
be  you  or  Corry  that'll  have  to  go,  and  as  you're  the 
senior  I'm  betting  on  you." 

"  You  don't  really  mean  it,  Hunter?" 

"  Why,  certainly,  Lymph.  I'll  bet  you  what  you 
like  Billings  will  be  down  in  ten  minutes  to  tell  you  to 
get  ready." 

Hollis's  face  was  wrapped  in  gloom.  For  a  moment 
he  stood  there  looking  grievously  worried  and  per 
plexed  ;  then,  half  hesitatingly,  he  glanced  up. 

"But  see  here,  fellows,  we're  just  beginning  re 
hearsals  for  Caste.  We've  got  to  give  that  play  in 
three  weeks,  and  I  don't  see  how  I  can  go.  Don't  you 
think  the  colonel  would  make  a  change  if  the  stage 
manager  were  to  tell  him  ?" 

Dana's  ribs  ached  from  the  vigorous  nudge  inflicted 
by  Hunter's  elbow. 

"  Think  ?  Why,  Tommy,  I  don't  see  how  he  could 
have  the  heart  to  send  you  off  at  such  a  time.  Let's 
see,  Blake's  to  be  stage  manager,  isn't  he  ?  By  all 
means  run  in  and  wake  him  up  and  tell  him  of  the 
impending  crisis  and  get  him  to  go  to  the  chief.  Oh, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  107 

he'll  go,"  added  the  youngster,  sagely,  though  hardly 
able  to  keep  a  straight  face.  And  then  Mr.  Hunter 
slipped  up  stairs  into  the  one  room  the  crowded  con 
dition  of  the  garrison  restricted  him  to,  and  there  burst 
into  a  guffaw  that  straightway  brought  Mr.  Iloyce 
from  the  adjoining  apartment,  who  joined  in  the  shout 
of  laughter  as  soon  as  he  heard  its  cause.  But  Hollis 
went  drearily  to  his  own  quarters.  Things  were  taking 
a  turn  he  little  dreamed  of. 

Meantime,  the  colonel  was  sitting  silently  at  his  desk, 
conning  over  the  list  the  adjutant  had  set  before  him. 
At  last  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  for  the  telegram, 
looked  it  over  once  more,  then  spoke. 

"  Strictly,  I  suppose,  Mr.  Royce  or  Mr.  Webster 
should  go;  neither  has  yet  had  a  tour  of  detached 
duty ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  have  only  recently 
come  in  from  that  country,  and  it  isn't  fair  to  send 
them  right  back  so  long  as  we  have  any  one  else.  It 
lies  between  Hollis  and  Corry,"  he  finished,  decisively, 
"and  you  may  tell  Mr.  Hollis  to  get  ready  at  once.'7 

"Very  well,  sir.     And  the  detachment?" 

"  From  Gregg's  troop.  Fifteen  men  will  do.  Let 
them  take  five  day's  rations  from  here.  They  can  get 
what  more  they  want  at  Fetterman,  and  then  at  the 
cantonment." 

"  I  don't  see  why  the  other  posts  could  not  better 
have  sent  out  the  party,"  said  the  adjutant,  after  a 
moment's  silence. 

"  Nor  do  I ;  but  as  things  are  going,"  added  the 
colonel,  slowly,  ii  I  think  perhaps  it  is  just  as  well. 
It  will  take  him  away  for  a  month." 

The  adjutant  grinned.     "  I  fear  the  dramatic  associa- 


108  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tion  will  be  sorely  afflicted,  sir.  Mr.  Hollis  had  cast 
himself  for  the  part  of  the  lover  in  the  play  they  are 
about  rehearsing." 

"So  I  had  heard/7  was  the  slow  reply.  And  the 
colonel's  moustache  was  twitching  a  trifle  in  sympathy 
with  the  corners  of  his  mouth.  "  I  think  but  for  that 
circumstance  we  might  have  given  Mr.  Corry  a  chance 
to  distinguish  himself.  No,  sir,"  he  continued,  rising 
with  quick,  decided  movement,  "  Mr.  Hollis  goes." 

And  when  the  ladies  began  to  appear  at  the  late 
breakfast  tables  along  the  row,  guard-mount  was  long 
over,  and  the  news  was  flitting  from  house  to  house 
that  the  leader  of  last  night's  german  was  ordered  off 
on  some  sudden  duty  the  nature  of  which  was  not 
thoroughly  understood,  and  Mrs.  Turner,  who  had  not 
forgiven  his  defection  of  the  wee  sma7  hours  that 
morning,  was  ready  with  her  inference  and  conclusions. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  1Q9 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

"HORACE,  what  do  you  think  Mina  says?" 
Captain  Turner  was  intrenched  behind  the  morn 
ing  paper, — that  mortal  enemy  to  conjugal  confabs. 
Already  had  his  helpmeet  begun  to  assail  him  with 
question  and  theory  as  to  this  sudden  detail  of  Gregg's 
second  lieutenant;  and,  as  was  his  habit  when  thus 
attacked,  he  had  retired  behind  the  columns  of  The 
Leader.  It  was  nearly  eleven  o'clock,  and  he  was 
hungry,  poor  fellow,  for,  except  the  cup  of  coffee  his 
"  striker"  had  made  for  him  at  dawn,  not  a  morsel  had 
passed  his  lips.  The  cook  had  long  since  offered  to 
bring  his  breakfast,  but  he  declined,  preferring  to  wait 
until  his  wife  had  slept  her  fill.  She  came  down  at 
last,  languid,  sleepy-eyed,  with  cheeks  bereft  of  the 
bloom  that  usually  decked  them, — the  pink  roses  had 
changed  their  hue  to  yellow, — with  dark  circles  under 
her  eyes,  with  tousled  hair  and  a  morning-gown  that 
ill  became  her ;  and  she  had  fled  precipitately  to  the 
kitchen  when  Mr.  Corry  suddenly  came  into  the  little 
army  parlor  to  see  his  captain  on  some  immediate  busi 
ness.  She  had  paraded  that  young  officer  about  for 
nearly  a  month  as  a  new  conquest  when  he  first  re 
ported  in  the  fall,  but  already  he  had  outgrown  his 
leading-strings,  and  was  one  of  "  Mrs.  Turner's  grad 
uates"  in  much  less  than  the  usual  course.  Corry  dis- 

10 


HO  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

posed  of,  the  captain  had  waited  some  minutes  longer 
for  breakfast,  listening  to  a  Babel  of  voices  in  animated 
colloquy  in  the  kitchen,  and  at  last  had  ventured  to 
ring  the  bell.  He  hated  these  kitchen  gatherings.  In 
the  easy-going  methods  of  the  frontier  it  was  so  handy 
for  Mrs.  Freeman's  cook  to  trot  in  through  the  hole  in 
the  fence  to  borrow  a  cupful  of  sugar,  or  Mrs.  Billings's 
Ethiopian  maid  to  beg  a  pat  of  butter,  or  Mrs.  Heath's 
"  striker"  to  ask  the  loan  of  the  skillet — "  their's  was 
busted,"  and  one  and  all  to  spend  five  minutes  or  so  in 
making  partial  payment  by  the  tender  of  such  news  or 
gossip  as  might  have  come  to  them.  Many  a  time,  as 
Turner  well  knew,  the  alleged  object  of  the  errand  was 
a  shallow  pretence,  a  mere  cover  for  the  mad  desire  to 
be  the  first  to  tell  some  lively  piece  of  scandal.  And 
time  and  again  had  he  remonstrated  with  his  pretty  but 
petulant  spouse  to  no  effect  beyond  throwing  her  into 
a  passion  of  tears  and  reproaches,  and  a  plea  to  be  sent 
home  to  her  own  people  where  she  was  not  being  per 
petually  nagged  for  things  she  could  not  prevent. 
"How  can  I  help  their  coming  here  and  talking?"  she 
indignantly  demanded.  "You  wouldn't  have  me 
order  them  off  the  premises,  would  you?"  Turner 
mildly  replied  that  he  thought  she  could  at  least  refuse 
to  listen  to  these  yarns,  either  from  their  lips  or  by 
transmission  through  those  of  her  own  kitchen  goddess. 
But  it  always  ended  in  his  defeat  and  his  going  gloomily 
off  to  his  troop  or  to  the  store — that  refuge  of  martial- 
marital  woe — feeling  sure  that  his  view  was  the  right 
one,  yet  helpless  in  his  effort  to  suppress  this  long- 
established  back-door  "  bureau  of  information."  As 
for  Mrs.  Turner,  she  was  too  volatile  to  long  remember 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  HI 

either  his  wishes  or  her  own  woe.  The  days  were  few 
when  she  had  not  some  new  gossip  to  bubble  over, 
and,  being  unable  to  think  of  anything  else,  could  not 
wait  to  meet  her  cronies,  but  had  to  try  its  effect  on  him. 
It  was  this  that  always  drove  him  behind  his  paper. 
There  was  no  answer  to  her  question. 

"  Horace,"  she  called  again.  "  Do  put  down  that 
stupid  paper  a  minute."  (It  was  the  winter  when  for 
weeks  we  knew  not  which  party  would  seat  its  presi 
dent;  when  civil  war,  confusion,  and  anarchy  were 
staring  us  in  the  face,  and  no  man  could  tell  what  the 
day  might  bring  forth.)  The  captain  lay  down  the 
details  of  the  exciting  debate  in  the  House  and  strove 
*.o  come  back  to  the  affairs  of  his  daily  life. 

u  What  do  you  suppose  Mina  says  ?" 

"  Mina  who  ?" 

"  Why,"  with  a  pout,  "  Mina  next  door.  You  know 
perfectly  well  who  I  mean." 

u  How  should  I  know  what  Mina  says  ?"  he  asked, 
gravely. 

"  Well,  you  might  at  least  try  and  be  interested  in 
things  that  are  so  interesting  to  everybody  else.  I 
must  tell  you,  if  I  can't  other  people." 

Turner  sighed. 

"  Don't  you  think  you  might  find  something  a  little 
more  worthy  your  attention,  Fanny?"  he  asked, 
sadly.  "  I  do  not  know  what  Mina  has  to  say  now. 
I  do  not  want  to  know,  for  she  has  brought  more 
scandal  and  gossip  into  this  house  than  any  two  women 
along  the  back  yards  in  this  post."  He  came  danger 
ously  near  saying  something  about  those  of  the  front 
yards  as  well,  but  checked  himself  in  time. 


112  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  I  declare,  Captain  Turner,  you  just  make  me  wish 
I'd  never  been  born,  sometimes,  with  all  these  superior 
airs  and  morals.  I  can't  help  it  if  people  come  and  tell 
me  things.  I  must  have  something  to  think  about? 
And  since  you  won't  talk  to  me,  what  can  I  do?" 

She  had  him  there,  poor  fellow,  and  yet  it  was  no 
fault  of  his.  There  was  no  subject  under  the  canopy 
of  heaven  that  he  knew  anything  about  that  afforded 
her  the  faintest  entertainment.  She  yawned  and 
looked  bored  at  his  best  eiforts,  yet  would  be  all  anima 
tion  in  an  instant  when  other  men  came  in — or  other 
women  were  under  discussion. 

"  Well,"  he  asked,  resignedly,  "  what  does  Mina 
say  ?" 

"  Well,  you  know  her  sister  worked  at  Major 
Granger's  before  she  went  to  live  at  Mrs.  Pond's  in 
town  ?" 

"  I  confess  I  did  not,"  said  the  captain.  "  In  fact, 
I  don't  remember  ever  having  heard  of  her  sister 
before." 

"  Well,  she  did ;  and  she  was  with  them  until  Mrs. 
Granger  went  East,  and  she  says  that  Mrs.  Granger 
promised  to  take  her  back  as  soon  as  she  returned  from 
the  sea-shore,  and  so  she  only  took  this  place  at  Mrs. 
Pond's  for  the  time  being,  and  yet  when  Mrs.  Granger 
came  she  brought  new  servants  with  her,  and  wouldn't 
have  Annie  at  all.  Wasn't  it  mean  ?" 

"  There  may  have  been  some  reason  which  we  know 
nothing  about." 

"  Mrs.  Granger  would  have  been  wise  not  to  have 
turned  her  off  in  that  way.  Mina  says  Annie  told 
her  all  sorts  of  things.  She  says  that  one  night,  just 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  113 

before  they  went  East,  Mr.  Hollis  was  there  in  the 
parlor,  and  Major  Granger  came  back  from  town  in  a 
rage  and  ordered  him  out  of  the  house,  and  swore  he'd 
shoot  him  if  he  ever  came  again,  and  after  he'd  gone 
there  was  an  awful  scene  between  him  and  her.  She 
declared  she  would  never  forgive  him  for  such  an  in 
sult;  said  she'd  go  back  home  at  once,  and  then  he 
told  her  if  she  did  he'd  publish  some  letters  he  had  of 
her's,  and  she  dared  him  to,  called  him  a  coward  and  a 
thief,  and  then  he  lost  all  control  of  himself  and  beat 
her,  and  she  screamed  for  help,  and  he  tried  to  gag 
her.  Why,  it  was  perfectly  awful !  Think  of  it, 
Horace."  For  the  captain  was  sitting  there  with  an 
absolutely  and  exasperatingly  wooden  expression  on 
his  face ;  and  when  Mrs.  Turner  found  him  thus  un 
moved  by  the  first  presentation  of  her  story,  it  was  her 
habit  to  go  over  its  salient  details  again,  accenting 
every  other  word. 

"Think  !  beat  her  till  she  scur-reamed  for  help,  and 
he  gagged  her.  Wasn't  it  awful,  Horace?  And  all 
on  Mr.  Hollis's  account." 

"  Awful,  yes, — as  a  piece  of  mendacity.  I  don't 
believe  a  word  of  it." 

"Well,  I  do;  because — I'll  tell  you,"  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Turner,  waxing  forgetful  in  her  anxiety  to  score 
a  point.  "  Mina  says  she  went  there  last  week  to  call 
on  Mrs.  Granger's  Martha,  the  new  girl,  and  they're 
from  the  same  town  in  the  old  country,  and  Martha 
said  if  she  had  known  what  sort  of  people  she  was 
going  to  live  with  she'd  never  have  come  out  with 
Mrs.  Granger  in  the  world — no  matter  what  wages  she 
offered.  The  major  was  always  spying  about  in  her 
h  10* 


114  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

trunks  and  desk  when  she  was  out;  and  they  quar 
relled  fearfully,  and  he  often  struck  her,  and  then  they 
wouldn't  speak  for  days,  and  then  he'd  come  in  and 
cry  and  beg  her  pardon  and  swear  he  loved  her  to 
madness  and  was  jealous  of  every  man  who  looked  at 
her.  Oh,  I  believe  it.— Don't  you  ?" 

"I.  believe  this,  Fanny,  as  I  have  told  you,  God 
knows  how  often  before,"  said  the  captain,  solemnly, 
"  that  it  is  utterly  unbecoming  in  you  or  any  lady  to 
permit  servants  to  come  to  you  with  such  infamous 
stories.  You  permit  my  house  to  be  the  rendezvous 
of  these  wretched  tale-bearers  despite  all  I  have  said 
and  urged." 

"  Captain  Turner,  I  think  you're  too  outrageous  for 
anything,"  protested  the  lady,  springing  from  the  table, 
her  cheeks  aflame,  her  eyes  blazing.  "I'd  like  to 
know  how  I'm  to  prevent  people  from  talking  if  they 
want  to.  I  don't  ask  them  here,  as  you  seem  to  think, 
/don't  want  them  to  come.  They  just  come  and  then 
you  declare  I  invite  them ;  that  I  herd  with  servants 
and  live  on  their  scandals,  and  I've  no  doubt  you  think 
I'm  responsible  for  half  the  things  that  are  said  around 
the  garrison  this  very  minute."  (I  fear  me  that  if  the 
captain  were  cross-examined  on  that  point  he  would 
have  to  plead  guilty.)  "  You  blame  me  for  everything 

— even/thing.  Oh,  dear — oh,  dear,  I  wish "  And 

here  Mrs.  Turner  threw  herself  on  the  parlor  sofa  and 
wept  and  rocked  herself  to  and  fro  in  plaintive  misery. 
Turner  arose  and  walked  slowly  up  and  down  the 
dimly-lighted  room,  for  the  shades  were  not  yet  raised. 

"  I  do  not  accuse  you  as  you  say,  my  child,"  he  sadly 
spoke,  "  but  I  do  hold  that  you  have  no  business  what- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  115 

ever  to  go  to  your  kitchen  and  listen  to  these  poor 
creatures " 

"No,"  she  interrupted,  "I  know  Fve  no  right  in 
my  own  kitchen  or  anywhere  else,"  sobbed  Mrs.  Turner, 
in  withering  sarcasm.  "  I  go  there  simply  to  see  that 
your  coffee  is  right  and  your  breakfast  prepared,  and 
for  all  this  I'm  lectured  like  a  common  felon." 

"  Breakfast  had  been  waiting  an  hour  before  you 
came,  Fanny,"  was  Turner's  answer.  "  Jane  had  been 
in  three  times  to  say  it  was  spoiling.  You  darted  out 
there  to  avoid  being  seen  by  Mr.  Corry  and  never  came 
back  until  I  had  rung  twice.  You  were  there  over 
ten  minutes  by  the  clock,  and  your  voice  was  quite  as 
audible  as  the  others."  He  had  more  to  add,  but  such 
an  array  of  evidence  no  right-minded  woman  could  be 
expected  to  listen  to.  Suddenly  reminded  of  these 
forgotten  particulars,  Mrs.  Turner  sprang  from  the  sofa 
and  rushed,  sobbing,  to  the  sanctity  of  her  own  apart 
ment,  having  time  for  only  one  arrow  before  she 
vehemently  locked  and  bolted  the  door  : 

"  God  pity  me !  And  this  is  the  man  who  swore 
to  love  and  protect — Oh,  me !  Oh,  me  !" 

Turner  left  his  breakfast  unfinished  and  went  forth, 
sighing  heavily.  Just  a  door  or  two  beyond,  Mrs. 
Truscott,  looking  as  bonny  and  blithe  as  a  peach-blos 
som,  was  tucking  baby  Jack  into  his  little  carriage, 
the  captain  bending  over  his  son  and  heir  and  tickling 
him  into  one  of  those  toothless  smiles  that  bring  such 
bliss  and  sunshine  into  parental  hearts,  and  then  the 
nursemaid  trundled  the  tiny  soldier-boy  away,  and 
Grace  linked  her  hands  about  her  husband's  arm  and 
they  stood  there  together  a  moment,  looking  after  that 


116  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

diminutive  entity  with  eyes  that  plainly  told  their  story 
of  love  and  joy  and  hope  unutterable;  and  Turner 
stopped  short  at  the  gate.  He  had  nowhere  in  par 
ticular  to  go, — no  duty  to  call  him  forth.  It  was  too 
cold  for  drill  and  Mr.  Corry  was  with  the  troop  at 
horse  exercise.  Mrs.  Truscott  caught  sight  of  him, 
and  nodded  and  smiled  brightly,  and  Turner  mechani 
cally  raised  his  cap  and  stood  watching  her,  as,  after  a 
final  long  gaze  towards  the  glistening  white  baby- 
carriage,  she  turned  back  to  the  open  door-way,  and, 
clinging  fondly  to  her  husband's  arm,  and  gazing  joy 
ously  up  into  his  face,  drew  him  back  to  their  cheery 
fireside.  A  lump  rose  in  Turner's  throat  and  a  film 
covered  his  tired  eyes.  He  glanced  one  instant  at  the 
dormer  window  on  the  second  floor,  where  the  curtains 
were  still  drawn,  and  at  the  parlor  windows  where  the 
shades  still  shut  out  all  view  of  the  interior.  He 
glanced  back  towards  the  rear  of  the  house,  where  the 
sound  of  shrill  voices  caught  his  ear,  and  where  "  Mina 
next  door"  was  still  gabbling  over  the  fence  to  his 
cook.  He  saw  the  firelight  dancing  in  the  hearth 
through  the  white  lace  curtains  that  hung  at  the  win 
dows  of  his  comrade's  home, — the  other  half  of  the 
brown,  clapboarded  cottage, — but  there  was  no  light, 
no  light  of  any  kind  in  his.  He  turned  slowly, 
drearily  down  the  road.  There  stood  the  store  at  the 
gate-way.  It  was  better,  at  least,  than  nothing. 

Meantime,  the  colonel  was  fuming  at  head-quarters. 
It  was  now  after  eleven  o'clock.  For  thirty  minutes 
a  detachment  of  troopers  had  been  standing  in  the  open 
space  back  of  the  office  stamping  their  feet  on  the 
frozen  ground  and  impatiently  awaiting  the  word  to 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  117 

mount  and  be  off.  In  fur  caps,  gloves,  and  buffalo 
overshoes,  their  nether  limbs  incased  in  Indian  leggings, 
the  collars  of  their  big  overcoats  turned  up  about  their 
ears,  their  saddles  packed  with  blanket,  haversack,  and 
canteen,  their  carbines  slung  from  the  broad  black  belt, 
the  revolvers  peeping  from  the  leathern  holsters ;  every 
thing  in  their  guise  indicated  preparation  for  a  long 
march  northward  into  the  teeth  of  the  wintry  bliz 
zards  that  swept  the  wild  plains  beyond  the  Platte. 
Jn  vain  had  messenger  after  messenger  been  sent  for 
Mr.  Hollis.  He  had  not  been  found. 

"  You  are  sure  you  ordered  him  to  start  at  10.30," 
said  the  colonel  to  Mr.  Billings  for  the  third  or  fourth 
time. 

"  Perfectly,  sir." 

The  colonel  took  a  turn  or  two  up  and  down  the 
office.  "  And  yet  Captain  Gregg  tells  me  he  rode  away 
at  nine  o'clock  in  the  direction  of  town.  Is  all  Mr. 
Hollis's  baggage  in  the  wagon,  sergeant?" 

"  Everything,  sir.  We  loaded  up  at  the  lieutenant's 
quarters  before  he  rode  away." 

"Then  mount  your  detachment  and  march  on  to 
Lodge  Pole.  Keep  the  main  road.  Mr.  Hollis  will 
overtake  you."  And,  glad  to  be  off,  the  sergeant 
saluted  and  hurried  out  to  his  men.  The  colonel,  with 
righteous  indignation  in  his  face,  returned  to  his  desk. 

It  was  high  noon  and  the  trumpet  was  pealing  mess- 
I  and  orderly-call  when  poor  Tommy  came  galloping  into 
the  post,  followed  by  two  of  the  three  couriers  sent  in 
search  of  him.  Obedient  to  his  orders  and  with  sorely 
flustered  spirit,  he  hastened  to  the  adjutant's  office  and 
was  dismounting  when  the  colonel  appeared  on  t,hp  r»orch. 


118  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Never  mind  dismounting,  sir.  Keep  your  saddle. 
You  have  lost  an  hour  and  a  half  already,  for  your 
command  marched  long  ago.  Now,  are  you  ready,  or 
have  you  still  matters  to  attend  to  ?" 

"  I'm  all  ready,  colonel.  I  declare  I'd  no  idea  I 
was  so  late.  I  hurried  all " 

"  Never  mind  details,  Mr.  Hollis.  You  are  ready, 
you  say.  Then  start  at  once;  follow  the  trail  of  your 
men  and  don't  quit  it  till  you  overtake  them."  And 
with  this  the  chief  whirled  about  and  plunged  into  his 
sanctum ;  and,  in  mingled  relief  and  wretchedness, 
Tommy  clucked  to  his  steaming  horse  and  trotted 
around  to  the  rear  of  the  office,  then,  striking  a  lope, 
rode  steadily  away  across  the  open,  rolling  prairie  to 
wards  the  cold,  distant  ridge-line  at  the  north.  It  was 
by  no  means  the  march  forth  he  had  pictured  himself, 
as  making  down  the  length  of  officer's  row,  with  all  the 
ladies  waving  him  good-by.  It  was  an  ignominious 
exit  at  best,  but  he  had  escaped  the  terrible  rasping  he 
well  knew  he  had  deserved,  and  the  colonel  had  not 
even  asked  him  where  and  how  he  had  been  so  long 
detained.  Mrs.  Atherton  was  just  coming  forth  into 
the  keen,  frosty  air  to  try  the  bracing  effect  of  a  stroll 
in  the  radiant  sunshine,  and  a  chat  with  some  of  her 
friends,  as  Hollis  vanished.  One  of  the  messengers 
threw  his  horse's  reins  over  the  rail  across  the  row  and, 
saluting  her  as  he  would  an  officer, — a  fashion  many  of 
the  men  had  fallen  into, — handed  her  a  letter. 

"  Oh  !  Was  Mrs.  Granger  well  enough  to  write?" 
she  exclaimed.  "  I'm  so  glad.  Thank  you,  Burns. 
I  did  not  expect  an  answer  for  half  an  hour  yet.  You 
must  have  ridden  hard." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  119 

"  I  did,  ma'am.  The  colonel  sent  me  there  full 
gallop,  with  orders  to  find  Mr.  Hollis,  and  we  came 
back  the  same  way." 

"  Oh  !     Was  Mr.  Hollis  there  ?" 

u  Yes,  ma'am,  he  was  at  Major  Granger's,  and " 

But  Mrs.  Atherton  was  already  busy  reading  her 
letter,  and  had  turned  away,  walking  slowly  down  the 
path. 

u  How  sweet  of  you,  dear  Mrs.  Atherton,  to  write  to 
me  so  early  and  kindly.  Do  not  worry ;  I  am  quite 
myself  this  morning,  and  only  miserable  that  I  should 
have  lost  so  much  of  that  loveliest  of  germans, — and 
all  for  nothing.  There  has  been  no  robbery  of  any 
consequence,  such  as  you  feared,  and,  indeed,  I  did  at 
first  when  I  saw  my  ransacked  sealskin,  and  that  slit  in 
the  canvas.  Very  possibly  the  thief  was  interrupted, 
for  the  porte-monnaie  I  thought  was  gone,  and  which 
contained  some  valuable  papers,  was  safe  in  the  inner 
pocket.  All  he  took  was  a  roll  of  small  bills,  and 
that  was  doubtless  his  only  object.  These  absurd  faint 
ing  spells  have  come  upon  me  in  the  most  unaccount 
able  way  of  late,  and  I  feel  that  I  owe  you  all  an  apol 
ogy  for  having  so  abominably  disturbed  the  harmony 
of  your  lovely  party.  Do  forgive  me,  and  with  my 
love  and  thanks  to  you  and  all  who  so  kindly  inquired, 
I  am 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

"  MADELEINE  GRANGER. 

"  P.S. — May  I  burden  you  with  this  little  note  for 
Mr.  Blake.  Major  Granges  says  the  orderly  is  waiting." 


120  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  This  little  note  for  Mr.  Blake,"  quoth  her  ladyship, 
reflectively,  "is  somewhat  bulkier  than  mine.  Oh! 
Mr.  Billings !"  she  called,  as  the  adjutant  came  spin 
ning  along  in  his  usual  hurry.  "Just  give  this  to 
Mr.  Blake,  will  you  ?  I'm  going  in  to  see  Mrs. 
Gregg."  And  Billings  accordingly  banged  in  at 
Blake's  door;  finding  that  gentleman  seated  at  the 
centre-table,  the  bandage  still  over  his  eye,  puffing 
away  at  a  brier-root  pipe,  while  Ray  was  busy  writing 
at  the  desk. 

"  What  ho  !  my  winged  mercury.  Speak  from  thy 
lungs  military,  bully  knight,  and  say  what  hast  thou," 
shouted  Blake,  closing  the  book  on  his  lap  with  sudden 
snap. 

"  Note  for  you  from  Mrs.  Atherton.  How  are  you, 
old  man?"  asked  the  adjutant,  tossing  the  missive  on 
the  table. 

"  Leave  off  discourse  of  disability.  I'm  fit  for — 
Hell!"  The  note  went  spinning  from  his  fingers,  pro 
jected  by  a  nervous  jerk, — a  quick,  convulsive  shudder 
that  seemed  to  shoot  through  every  nerve, — the  instant 
he  caught  sight  of  the  superscription  of  the  billet  he 
had  begun  so  idly  to  turn  over.  He  sprang  from  his 
chair  and  caught  it  at  the  hearth,  then  stowed  it  with 
twitching  hands  in  an  inner  pocket  of  his  blouse,  turn 
ing  his  back  upon  his  friends. 

"  Well,  that's  about  as  frank  a  confession  as  I've 
heard  in  a  year,  Legs,"  drawled  Ray,  turning  slowly 
in  his  chair.  "  Why  !  what's  amiss,  man  ?"  he  added, 
with  total  change  of  tone,  as  he  quickly  left  his  seat. 
And  then  it  suddenly  dawned  on  Mr.  Billings  that 
there  was  something  there  he  was  not  a  party  to. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  121 

Very  probably  they  never  heard  his  abrupt  good-day, 
or  noted  his  departure. 

Nannie  Bryan,  with  her  two  new  girl-friends,  was 
strolling  up  the  walk  as  he  hurried  out,  and  she  looked 
wistfully  into  his  face  while  Amy  Waldron  asked  how 
Mr.  Blake  was  getting  on.  Turner,  too,  happened 
along  at  the  moment,  coming  back  from  the  store  sor 
rowing  over  the  distressing  interview  with  his  wife, 
and  bent  on  going  in  to  comfort  her  and  make  up; 
but  even  as  he  stopped  a  moment  to  speak  to  the  ad 
jutant  a  door  opened  up  the  row;  gay,  laughing  voices 
were  heard  in  animated  chat,  Messrs.  Dana  and  Eoyce 
came  forth,  Mrs.  Turner  following  them  to  the  porch ; 
every  trace  of  tears  utterly  gone,  her  eyes  sparkling, 
her  cheeks  glowing,  mirth  and  merriment  bubbling 
from  her  lips.  Turner  could  hardly  believe  it  the 
same  woman  whom  he  had  left  an  hour  agone,  plunged 
in  woe  and  lamentation ;  but  even  now  he  hardly 
realized  the  extent  of  her  recuperative  power.  She 
had  no  more  felt  all  she  expressed — than  she  had  told 
him  all  that  Mina  next  door  had  revealed. 

And  presently  Ray  came  out  into  the  sunshine  and 
went  on  up  towards  Truscott's,  giving  only  an  absent 
nod  to  his  friends  at  Turner's  gate,  and  Blake  at  last 
was  left  alone.  He  went  up  into  his  bed-room,  locked 
and  bolted  his  door,— a  thing  he  never  had  done  before, 
— then  seated  himself  by  the  window  and  drew  forth 
the  little  note  which  had  so  nearly  fallen  into  the  fire. 
Full  five  minutes  he  studied  the  superscription,  turn 
ing  over  the  dainty  missive  again  and  again  in  his  long, 
slender  fingers.  At  last,  though  with  an  effort,  he 
opened  and  read. 

p  11 


122  CAPTAIN  SLAKE. 

"  GERALD, — 

"  If  you  dream  what  I  have  perilled, — if  you  bat 
half  suspected  what  I  am  daring  now  for  your  sake, 
you  could  not  find  it  in  your  heart  to  treat  me  with 
scorn  and  contempt.  I  do  not  plead  for  forgiveness. 
I  know  I  wronged  you  beyond  all  hope  of  that ;  but 
you  are  revenged,  for  my  misery  has  been  complete  for 
years.  Ever  since  your  hideous  welcome  to  my  roof 
that  night,  I  have  felt  that  I  must  see  and  talk  with 
you,  and  yesterday  I  wrote  to  you,  imploringly,  telling 
you  what  I  dare  not  say  again.  You  have  heard  of 
the  robbery  at  the  ball.  That  letter  was  the  only 
thing  taken,  and  the  thief— O  God,  that  such  dis 
grace  should  come  to  me ! — was  my  husband.  There 
is  nothing  of  which  he  has  not  accused  me  since 
my  return  from  the  East.  Gerald,  it  is  a  heart 
broken  woman  that  appeals  to  you  —  not  for  for 
giveness;  I  dare  not  ask  that;  but  for  mercy.  We 
must  meet  —  we  shall  meet;  and  when  we  do,  in 
pity  for  my  suffering,  be  gentle  to  me.  Some  day 
I  will  tell  you  all.  Till  then,  do  not  judge  me  too 

harshly. 

"  MADELEINE." 

People  sometimes  compare  notes  in  this  world.  If 
Mrs.  Atherton  and  Mr.  Blake  had  but  compared  these 
two  that  came  in  the  one  enclosure,  very  much  that 
afterwards  happened  might  have  been  avoided.  But 
of  course  Mr.  Gerald  Blake  never  thought  of  such  a 
thing.  On  the  contrary,  he  took  from  a  worn  old 
leather  writing-case  another  letter, — a  worn  old  letter  it 
was,  too;  blurred  and  stained  with  marks  that  were 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  123 

not  those  of  time  alone ;  and  this  he  pored  over  before, 
an  hour  later,  he  locked  them  both  in  that  weather- 
beaten  portfolio,  stowed  it  in  his  trunk,  and  presently 
buried  his  bruised  head  in  his  arms  and  sat  there  in 
his  dreary  room,  thinking  of  by-gone  days, — mourning 
a  by-gone  love. 


124 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

IT  was  one  of  those  rare  late  winter  days  that  some 
times  dawn  upon  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rockies. 
The  frosty  air  was  full  of  ozone,  stimulant,  and  sparkle, 
and  so  still  and  serene  that  the  smoke  from  every 
chimney   sailed    slowly   aloft,   straight    towards    the 
zenith.    The  sunshine  poured  down  from  an  unclouded 
sky,  warm,  rich,  and  mellow.     The  prairie  roads  were 
hard  and  beaten.     The   prairie  sward   glistened    and 
glinted  with  innumerable  tiny  globules  where  the  sharp 
touch  of  the  night  frosts  had  fringed  every  little  blade 
of  bunch-grass.     Thin,  brittle  sheets  of  ice  overspread 
the   little   pools,    where   the   dancing   waters   of    the 
acequia  had  been   checked  in  their   rapid  flow;   and 
under  every  pole  of  the  military  telegraph  line  a  musi 
cal  hum,  like  that  of  some  huge  single-stringed  seolian 
harp,  fell  upon  the  ear.     Far  to  the  south  the  lofty 
peaks  gleamed  and  shimmered  in  the  radiant  sunshine, 
like  huge  broad-based  cones  of  purest  loaf-sugar  ;^  and 
over  to  the  west  the  sharp  ridge-line  of  the  great  divide 
seemed  but  half  a  dozen  miles  away,— though  it  could 
not  be  reached  in  a  long  day's  march.     Except  among 
the  heavier  clumps  of  grass  and  along  the  trench  of 
the  irrigating  ditches  the  snow  had  made  no  lodgement, 
and  the  prairie,  in  its  snug-fitting  jacket  of  gray-green 
bunch-grass,  lay  hard  and  frozen  as  the  solid  ice  in  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  125 

shallow  reaches  of  the  stream  that  came  chattering 
down  over  its  stony  bed,  cold  and  repellent  as  an 
Arctic  river.  Out  on  the  level  flats  towards  the  dis 
tant  town  several  teams,  the  Laramie  stage,  and  an  am 
bulance  or  two  bowled  briskly  along,  the  horses  tossing 
their  heads  and  capering  in  sheer  enjoyment  of  so  blithe 
a  morning,  and  up  the  hard-beaten  trail  from  the  depot 
Mrs.  Granger's  landau  flashed  into  view,  just  as  the 
various  troops  of  the  — th,  with  fluttering  guidons  and 
glistening  sabres  came  dancing  up  the  slopes  from  the 
stables  in  the  valley, — the  men  simply  could  not  make 
their  horses  walk  on  such  a  day, — and  adjutant's  call 
rang  out  from  the  squad  of  trumpeters  stationed  in 
front  of  the  old  brown  hospital.  "  In  such  glorious, 
faultless  weather,"  said  the  colonel,  "  horses  and  men 
would  be  all  the  better  for  a  brisk  battalion  drill." 
Fingers  and  noses  might  suffer  a  trifle  at  first,  but  the 
exercise  would  soon  send  the  blood  bounding  through 
the  veins  and  make  it  joy  to  be  in  saddle.  And  he 
was  right.  Presently,  in  long  extended  rank,  the  six 
troops  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle,  the  sabres 
flashed  their  salute  to  the  commanding  officer,  and  be 
fore  many  minutes  a  dozen  ladies  from  the  garrison 
were  clustered  along  the  walk  in  front  of  the  store, 
.and,  while  a  few  gathered  about  Mrs.  Granger's  car 
riage,  others  walked  briskly  up  and  down  for  warmth 
and  exercise,  and  all  watched  with  eager  interest  the 
rapid  manoeuvres  of  the  battalion,  heralded  by  stirring 
trumpet  calls.  Mrs.  Granger  had  a  friend  with  her, 
a  Mrs.  Morris,  from  town,  and  Mrs.  Morris  was  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  prominent  capitalists  of  Cheyenne, 
and  a  woman  eager,  as  was  evident,  to  make  a  pleasant 

11* 


126  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

impression  on  those  recognized  queens  of  frontier  so 
ciety,  the  ladies  of  the  — th.  Most  of  them  knew 
her,  of  course.  She  had  called  on  them  all  and  had 
attended  the  famous  german  with  other  townsfolk,  and 
was  loud  in  her  admiration  of  the  loveliness  and  grace 
of  these  new  occupants  of  the  garrison  so  recently 
ruled  and  governed  by  their  predecessors  of  the  Elev 
enth,  whom  she  had  known  much  better  and  felt  far 
more  at  home  with.  Mrs.  Morris  was  not  a  pretty 
woman,  but  she  had  a  certain  pre-eminence  among  the 
dames  in  social  circles  outside  of  the  post,  and  was 
eager  to  extend  her  sphere,  if  possible,  to  invade  the 
sacred  limits  of  the  military  bailiwick.  She  had  not 
hitherto  been  an  intimate  of  Mrs.  Granger's,  and 
women  like  Mrs.  "VValdron  were  surprised  to  find  them 
driving  together.  Many  of  the  officers,  obedient  to 
orders  from  Mrs.  Atherton  and  the  lady  managers, 
had  been  attentive  to  Mrs.  Morris  as  well  as  to  other 
townspeople,  and  she  had  danced — rather  bulkily  to 
be  sure — with  most  of  their  number.  The  cloud  that 
for  a  time  threatened  to  fall  between  Mrs.  Granger  and 
the  regiment  had  apparently  been  lifted,  for  she  was 
all  smiles,  graciousness  and  cordiality  on  meeting  the 
ladies  this  lovely  morning.  It  was  her  first  appearance 
at  the  post  since  the  night  of  the  german, — and  when 
the  colonel  saw  her  afar  off  he  looked  but  little 
pleased. 

Of  course  many  of  the  ladies  of  the  — th  had  been 
down  to  call  upon  and  condole  with  her,  but  some  had 
denied  themselves  that  luxury,  and  this  was  their  first 
sight  of  Mrs.  Granger  since  that  joyous  affair  which, 
up  to  the  time  of  her  melodramatic  misadventure,  had 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  127 

been  so  charming  a  success.  Now,  it  was  noted  that 
although  they  bowed  and  smiled,  and  even  stopped 
just  a  minute  to  speak  to  her,  one  little  party  there 
after  avoided  Mrs.  Granger,  and  of  that  party  Mrs. 
Athertou  and  Mrs.  Stannard  were  fair  specimens. 
Blithely,  with  much  silvery  laughter  and  a  babble  of 
joyful  voices,  the  fun  went  on.  The  regiment  was 
trotting  about  but  a  short  distance  away  at  the  moment, 
and  most  of  the  ladies  were  now  paying  very  little 
attention  to  it.  It  was  facing  south  and  in  one  long 
line  again,  when  Mrs.  Granger  was  reminded  that  it 
was  really  time  for  her  to  start  for  town  ;  she  had 
promised  Mrs.  Morris  to  take  her  in.  Her  horses  had 
been  pawing  and  snorting  impatiently,  and  Grimsby, 
her  English  driver,  was  having  some  difficulty  in  re 
straining  their  eagerness.  At  last,  after  much  bidding 
adieu  and  repeated  injunctions  to  be  sure  to  come  down 
and  see  her,  she  gave  the  signal  to  start,  and  the  spir 
ited  bays  whirled  away  southeastward,  passing  along  in 
front  of  the  line  at  a  spanking  trot  which  they  every 
moment  strove  to  quicken  into  a  run. 

As  luck  would  have  it,  the  colonel  at  the  moment 
was  facing  away  from  the  garrison  and  looking  east 
ward  along  his  extended  line.  The  men  had  been 
doing  their  best,  but  in  that  keen,  exhilarating  air  the 
horses  were  almost  wild  with  high  spirits,  and  several 
of  their  movements  at  rapid  gait  had  degenerated  into 
impetuous  rushes,  almost  like  those  of  a  flock  of  sheep, 
which  the  troop  commanders  had  labored  in  vain  to 
prevent.  Every  time  the  gait  was  increased  to  the 
gallop  some  luckless  troopers,  tugging  manfully  at  the 
reins,  would  be  whisked  away  by  their  plunging  steeds, 


128  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and,  to  the  colonel's  intense  disgust,  half  a  dozen  hard- 
mouthed  chargers  at  this  very  moment  were  dashing 
about  the  prairie  in  big  sweeping  circles,  despite  every 
effort  of  their  riders  to  restrain  them. 

Determined  to  keep  at  the  movement  until  it  was 
properly  executed,  Atherton  once  more  addressed  a  few 
sharp  words  of  caution  to  the  troop  leaders  and  of 
reproof  to  the  men,  and  then  ordered  "  fours  right/7 
following  it  instantly  with  "  left  front  into  line,  gallop." 
The  next  thing  Mrs.  Granger  knew  her  progress  town- 
ward  was  blocked  by  several  strong  troops  of  blue- 
coated  cavalry,  riding  diagonally  across  her  path,  and 
sweeping  out  towards  her  startled  horses  at  a  plunging 
gallop.  Grimsby  quickly  whirled  his  team  to  the 
right  and  headed  them  across  the  frozen  prairie  towards 
the  bluff,  hoping  to  pass  around  the  left  flank  of  the 
long  battalion ;  but,  pricking  up  their  ears,  prancing 
and  plunging,  his  horses  seemed  to  see,  hear,  feel 
nothing  but  the  coming  rush  of  four-footed  fellow- 
creatures;  and  then  Grimsby,  in  wrath,  made  the 
blunder  of  snatching  out  his  whip  and  hitting  each 
horse  a  sharp  cut  just  as  the  front  wheels  struck  a 
little  acequia.  He  had  risen  to  his  feet,  and  the  start, 
the  jar,  the  sudden  violent  swerve  were  all  too  much 
for  his  balance.  Out  he  went  head  foremost  upon  the 
icy  surface,  and,  released  suddenly  from  the  hated 
restraining  reins,  with  mad  bounds  away  went  Mrs. 
Granger's  beautiful  team,  the  landau  bounding  through 
space  at  their  cluttering  heels.  "  My  God  !  They're 
going  straight  for  the  bluff!"  was  the  cry;  and  the 
bluff  was  not  four  hundred  yards  away.  Mrs.  Morris 
was  heard  to  lift  up  her  voice  in  one  shrill,  ear-piercing 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  129 

shriek,  at  sound  of  which  the  dashing  steeds  set  back 
their  ears  and  fled  the  faster.  The  groups  of  ladies 
along  the  walk  near  the  store  could  only  wring  their 
hands  and  gaze  in  fascination  at  the  terrible  sight, 
but  they  had  hardly  time  to  picture  the  impending 
catastrophe,  when  all  chance  of  it  was  banished  in  a 
cheer. 

Freeman  was  officer  of  the  day,  and  not  on  drill, — 
his  troop  commanded  by  his  first  lieutenant,  Mr. 
Blake, — and,  almost  before  the  landau  had  fairly 
launched  out  upon  its  rush,  Blake  had  put  spurs  to  his 
charger,  thrown  aside  his  sabre,  and,  leaving  the  troop 
to  get  into  line  as  best  it  could,  "Legs"  went  tearing 
after  the  runaway  team,  shooting  across  its  track  from 
the  rear,  and,  in  big  circle,  closing  in  upon  the  runaway 
on  the  "  off"  side.  Almost  at  the  same  instant  Billy 
Ray  had  darted  from  his  place  in  line — he  was  com 
manding  Buxton's  troop  in  the  protracted  absence  of 
that  officer — and,  with  Dandy's  heels  fairly  spurning 
the  frozen  earth,  had  overtaken  him  and  was  close  to 
the  hind  wheels  on  the  "near"  side  as  he  shouted, — 

"That's  right,  Blake.  Kound  'em  to  the  left,— 
slowly  now.  Sit  still,  Mrs.  Morris !  Don't  you  dare 
jump."  Another  minute,  and  when  they  could  not 
have  been  more  than  seventy  yards  from  the  edge  of 
the  bluff  that  overhung  the  valley,  Blake  checked  the 
wild  rush  of  his  horse  as  he  passed  the  reins  from  the 
left  to  his  right  hand,  edged  in  close  to  the  panting, 
laboring  quadruped, — the  "off"  horse  of  Mrs.  Gran 
ger's  team, — and  stretched  forth  his  left  hand  as  though 
to  grasp  the  lines.  The  maddened  beast  felt  the  move 
and  swerved  to  the  left.  Blake  followed,  again  leaning 


130  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

over.  Another  swerve  was  the  result,  and,  in  this 
way,  in  long  sweeping  circle,  the  runaways  were  gradu 
ally  rounded  until,  within  ten  yards  of  the  edge,  they 
were  once  more  heading  eastward,  parallel  with  the 
bluff  line,  and  then  Ray's  voice  was  heard,  cheery  as 
before,  "  Now,  old  man,  lay  hold."  And  in  another 
moment  four  horses  were  galloping  abreast,  with  Blake 
and  Ray  astride  of  the  flankers.  Another  moment 
still,  and  each  had  grasped  the  rein  nearest  him,  and 
then,  guiding  the  team  well  away  from  the  valley,  and 
over  the  hard  level  of  the  prairie,  they  gradually 
brought  them  down  to  a  choppy  canter,  then  to  a  trot, 
and  finally,  nearing  the  road,  quietly  turned  into  the 
beaten  track  back  towards  the  post,  where  they  were 
presently  surrounded  with  comrades  and  congratula 
tions.  Grimsby,  undamaged  except  as  to  his  hat  and 
raiment,  came  running  down  to  meet  them.  The 
colonel  rode  up  alongside  to  praise  Mrs.  Granger  for 
her  pluck  in  sitting  still  and  uttering  no  cry,  inferen- 
tially  rebuking  Mrs.  Morris  for  her  insane  behavior ; 
and  Mr.  Royce  galloped  out  from  the  store  with  Doctor 
Pease's  injunction  not  to  attempt  to  raise  Mrs.  Gran 
ger's  head  until  he  got  there.  It  seemed  to  be  generally 
conceded  that  she  must  have  fainted  as  a  matter  of 
course,  but  to  the  surprise  of  everybody  she  had  done 
nothing  of  the  kind.  Even  now,  when  the  danger 
was  all  over,  and  the  humbled  Grimsby  had  once  more 
assumed  the  box  and  the  reins  of  government,  the  car 
riage  was  made  the  centre  of  a  group  of  officers  eager 
to  condole  with  Mrs.  Granger  on  her  startling  experi 
ence  and  to  tender  their  services  to  escort  her  home  or 
into  the  garrison,  which  latter  course  they  especially 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  131 

urged.  And  presently  who  should  come  tearing  up  the 
road  from  the  depot,  mounted  on  a  whinnying  quarter 
master's  horse,  but  Granger  himself;  his  eyes  wild 
with  apprehension,  his  spectacles  gone,  his  trousers 
hitched  up  half-way  to  his  knees, — a  picture  of  mingled 
discomfort  and  dismay.  Once  more  she  had  all  the 
commissioned  force  of  the  — th  about  her,  while  the 
ladies  stood  looking  on  from  afar,  and  the  situation  was 
by  no  means  unwelcome  as  she  reclined,  most  grace 
fully,  properly  agitated,  pressing  her  hand  to  her  palpi 
tating  heart  and  smiling  sweetly,  faintly  around  upon 
them.  She  could  have  borne  it  indefinitely  perhaps, 
but  the  major,  hurriedly,  almost  incoherently  thanking 
the  officers  for  their  sympathy,  ordered  Grimsby  to 
drive  homeward. 

"  Not  until  I  have  thanked  the  gentlemen  who 
rescued  us,"  she  promptly  declared,  as  she  peered 
eagerly  about  among  the  cavaliers  on  either  side. 

"  I'll  attend  to  all  that,  my  dear,"  protested  Gran 
ger  ;  "  but  I  know  what  is  best  for  you.  Drive  back, 
Grimsby.  Whom  have  I  to  thank  for  this  great 
service  ?"  he  asked. 

"  Mr.  Blake  and  Mr.  Ray,  major,"  was  the  cool 
reply  of  the  colonel ;  "  and  they  don't  seem  to  be  here." 
Indeed,  no  sooner  was  Grimsby  back  on  his  perch  and 
the  carriage  surrounded  by  their  comrades  than  those 
two  gentlemen  had  quietly  trotted  away  to  their  respec 
tive  troops.  Granger's  face  was  a  picture  that  would 
have  been  hard  to  paint  at  this  announcement. 

"  I  must  ask  you  then,"  he  stammered,  "  to  make 
temporary  acknowledgment,  as  I  cannot  leave  my  wife  ; 
she  is  not  strong,  and  this "  But  he  broke  oif 


132  CAPTAIN  BLAKE, 

abruptly,  with  blue,  quivering  lips,  and  clattered  after 
the  carriage. 

"  You  may  dismiss  your  troops,  gentlemen,"  said  the 
colonel ;  "  drill  is  over.  Come  to  the  office,  Mr. 
Billings." 

Two  days  afterwards,  as  Mr.  Ray  was  sitting  on  a 
garrison  court,  the  orderly  trumpeter  popped  in  with 
the  mail.  Two  letters  with  feminine  superscription 
were  handed  him,  one  of  which  he  stowed  away  in  the 
breast  of  his  coat,  the  other  he  opened  and  idly  read. 

"  What  does  this  mean,  Blakey,"  he  asked,  an  hour 
later,  when  he  bolted  into  the  sitting-room  which  he 
and  his  faithful  chum  enjoyed  in  common.  " '  Mrs. 
Morris  will  be  happy  to  welcome  Lieutenant  Ray  at 
luncheon  to-morrow  at  one  o'clock.  Very  informally/ 
I  suppose  you  have  a  similar  bid.  Fve  never  called 
there  and  I  don't  know  Morris  at  all.  He  has  never 
shown  any  desire  to  meet  either  of  us,  and  we've  been 
here  longer  than  any  of  the  men  except  Hollis." 

"Well,  Hollis  went  there  a  great  deal.  I  suppose 
it  is  very  natural  she  should  want  to  meet  you  after 
your  pulling  her  out  of  a  prospective  smash-up,"  said 
Blake,  turning  away  as  he  spoke. 

"  Nothing  more  was  necessary  than  that  Morris  him 
self  should  write  a  line.  He  hasn't  done  that,  though 
Granger  has,  poor  devil !" 

"  Morris  couldn't ;  he  isn't  home ; — went  to  Omaha 
several  days  ago,  but  returns  to-morrow." 

"How  did  you  hear?"  asked  Ray.  "Oh,  never 

min(l "  he  broke  off  suddenly.  "  Is  anybody  else 

asked?  It  seems  sort  of  queer, — -just  you  and  me 
bidden  to  lunch.  I  suppose  she'll  have  some  one  to 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  133 

meet  us,  for  Hollis  says  no  one  is  visiting  her.  He 
called  there  last  night  with  Royce,  and  they're  not 
invited." 

"I  suppose  she  will,"  was  Blake's  brief  reply. 
"Then  you'll  go?" 

"  Why,  I'd  rather  not,  Blake.  I  don't  care  to  visit 
women  whose  husbands  don't  care  to  meet  me." 

"  He  hasn't  had  a  chance,  Ray,  since  the  runaway." 

"  He  had  a  hundred  before  it,  anyhow,  and  as  so 
many  of  the  prominent  men  took  the  trouble  to  come 
out  and  call  after  last  summer's  affair,  his  failure  to  do 
so  was  remarked.  Another  thing,  Blake,"  and  now 
Ray  spoke  with  a  hesitancy  very  foreign  to  his  nature  ; 
"•Is  it  not  likely  that  if  she  asks  anybody  it  will  be 
—Mrs.  Granger?" 

There  was  a  moment's  silence.  Blake  had  made  his 
way  over  to  the  window,  and  was  leaning  against  the 
casement  and  gazing  out  upon  the  wind-swept  parade. 
A  light,  powdery  snow  was  driving  before  the  blast, 
for  rare  indeed  were  the  wintry  days  when  the  moun 
tain  pass  to  the  west  failed  to  send  its  blustering  com 
pliments  by  the  time  the  sun  was  at  the  zenith.  The 
only  light  in  the  barrack-like  apartment  came  through 
those  front  windows,  and  even  this  was  tempered  by 
the  overhanging  roof  of  the  porch  in  front.  Ray  stood 
in  the  gloom,  Blake's  tall  figure  in  sharp  relief,  but 
his  face  was  hidden.  Presently  the  answer  came, — 

"  Mrs.  Granger  has  been  asked,  Billy,  and  says  she 
will  not  go.  But  suppose  she  could,  what  then  ?" 

"  Simply  this :  after  our  quarrel  with  Granger,  I 
think  we  would  have  no  business  there." 

"  Not  after  what  he  has  written  ?" 
12 


134  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"No!  Not  by  a  Kentucky  jugful.  See  here,  old 
man,  the  Lord  knows  I  hate  to  say  a  word  that 
may  sound  unkind  to  a  fellow  who  has  stood  by  me 
through  thick  and  thin  as  you  have, — I  wouldn't  do  it, 
Blakey,  if  I  didn't  think  so  d — d  much  of  you."  (As 
usual,  when  among  his  kind  and  deeply  moved,  Mr. 
Ray  fell  back  on  the  characteristic  vernacular.)  "  I've 
no  idea  of  diplomacy.  I  can't  beat  round  the  bush ; 
but  my  opinion  is  just  this :  Granger  called  on  every 
officer  of  the  regiment  except  you  and  me.  He  never 
came  near  us  last  summer,  though  he  was  often  here  in 
the  post.  The  night  you  sought  his  quarters  to  get 
help  for  old  Bryan  you  were  knocked  senseless  at  his 
very  door,  and  you  had  reason  to  think  him  responsible 
for  the  assault.  So  far  from  sending  a  courteous  reply 
to  your  letter,  he  insults  you ;  says  you  perfectly  well 
knew  he  could  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter, 
because  he  was  absent  at  the  time, — otherwise  you 
wouldn't  have  presumed  to  visit  his  house.  It  is  as 
blackguardly  an  affront  as  I  ever  heard  of;  and  when 
I  call  upon  him  for  the  only  reparation  possible,  he 
threatens  us  with  charges  of  provoking  a  duel ;  then 
he  comes  here  and  attempts  to  see  you,  and  I  head  him 
off  and,  with  Truscott  for  a  witness,  tell  him  in  the 
language  of  the  church  catechism  that  he  is  a  thief  and 
a  liar.  You  know  perfectly  well  that  no  tongue  in 
all  this  neighborhood  was  so  virulent  against  us  last 
summer  as  his.  You  know  that  he  is  the  fountain- 
spring  of  every  bit  of  mean  scandal  concerning  any 
officer  that  is  put  in  circulation  hereabouts.  You  know 
perfectly  well  that,  when  our  fellows  got  back  from 
the  long,  hard  campaign,  and  those  farewell  dinners 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE,  135 

were  given  in  town,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  fun 
and  frolic,  it  was  that  fellow  who  came  up  here  to 
Atherton,  and  went  to  the  general's  staff  and  to  the 
general  himself,  Fin  told,  and  filled  their  ears  with 
everything  he  had  heard  about  one  man  after  another. 
You  know  well  that  he  never  comes  out  to  this  post 
but  that  he  has  something  discreditable  to  tell  of  some 
body  or  other  from  Sanders,  Laramie,  Sidney,  or  Fet- 
terman  whom  he  has  seen  at  train-time  in  town.  You 
know  well  that  it  was  his  evidence  and  persecution 
that  drove  poor  Moulton  out  of  the  service,  and  that 
he  started  the  row  that  killed  Jimmy  Cramer  right 
here  at  this  post.  You  know  well  that  half  those 
Black  Hills  outfits  are  supplied  with  odds  and  ends 
of  government  stores  that  never  were  bought  at  public 
auction.  Ask  any  one  of  those  men  where  he  got 
those  things,  and  he  will  grin  and  wink,  and  stick  his 
tongue  in  his  cheek.  They  are  sold  by  Granger's  peo 
ple  and  Granger  knows  it,  and  it  was  because  Moulton 
knew  it  and  Cramer  was  catching  on  that  he  downed 
them.  He  has  wealth  and  influence.  He  has  a  dozen 
men  in  his  employ  who  will  swear  to  anything  he  tells 
them,  no  doubt ;  but,  all  the  same,  he's  an  unmitigated 
cad.  He  had  to  write  that  letter  to  you  after  the  run 
away.  He's  smart  enough  to  know  that  public  senti 
ment  would  be  hard  against  him  if  he  didn't, — he  begs 
you  to  accept  his  best  thanks  for  so  inestimable  a  ser 
vice  and  to  let  by-gones  be  by-gones,  but  what  does  it 
amount  to?  Does  he  explain  the  assault?  Does  he 
retract  or  apologize  for  the  insult  in  the  other  note? 
Not  a  bit  of  it !  There's  only  one  way  in  which  you 
and  I  can  meet  him,  Blakey,  and  you  know  it." 


136  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  I'm  not  talking  about  him." 

Another  silence.  Ray  began  pacing  the  floor,  then 
suddenly  turned  and  laid  his  hand  on  Blake's  shoulder. 
"  Legs,  its  none  of  my  business,  perhaps,  but,  if  you 
care  anything  for  that — for  her — yet,  it's  only  harming 
her  good  name  to  meet  her  when  you  won't  recognize 
her  husband.  It's  only  harming  yourself  to  meet 
her  at  all."  And  then  Mr.  Ray  took  his  forage-cap 
and  went  over  to  Truscott's,  leaving  Blake  still  at  the 
window. 

Yes,  another  note  had  come  from  her  as  Ray  sup 
posed,  and  this  Blake  read  again, — 

"And  now  I  owe  you  my  very  life,  and  yet  you 
avoid  me.  Gerald  Blake,  do  not  crush  a  heart-broken 
woman.  If  I  asked  anything  more  than  a  kind  word, 
one  kind  look,  I  would  not  blame  you  for  holding 
aloof.  I  know  your  sense  of  honor.  I  know  that  it  is 
his  insane  jealousy  and  his  cowardly  conduct  that  make 
you  treat  him  with  contempt.  Do  you  think  I  do  not 
know  him  ten  times  better — and  for  ten  times  worse? 

"Gerald,  as  God  is  my  judge,  I  felt  no  terror  with 
death  staring  me  in  the  face,  I  almost  welcomed  it. 
You  saved  me.  You, — the  hero  of  my  girlhood, — but 
I  will  not  offend  you  further.  Now  listen.  I  write 
hurriedly,  wildly,  incoherently,  perhaps,  but  I  have 
thought  this  matter  out.  Remember,  for  all  the  past, 
for  all  the  wrong  I  did  you, — I  ask  no  forgiveness. 
Long  ago  I  knew  that  what  fate  had  robbed  me  of — 
your  love — could  never  be  regained.  Now,  at  the  risk 
of  your  misunderstanding  me,  at  the  risk  of  your  con 
tempt,  I  say  that  your  conduct  is  torture  to  me.  You 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  137 

are  a  man,  strong  and  self-reliant ;  I  am  a  weak, 
stricken  woman,  begging  only  for  mercy,  begging  that 
I  may  not  be  driven  to  despair  by  the  contempt  of  the 
only  man  who  ever  held  a  place  in  my  heart.  All  I 
ask  is  that  when  we  meet  in  society  we  meet  as  friends. 
People  now  suppose  that  it  is  because  of  some  quarrel 
with  Major  Granger  you  avoid  his  wife,  but  he  has 
promised  to  write  to  you,  begging  your  forgiveness  for 
his  insane  language,  and  asking  that  you  give  him  at 
least  a  semblance  of  friendship.  This  done, — and  he 
shall  do  it, — you  cannot,  you  surely  cannot,  find  it  in 
your  heart  to  publicly  scorn  me.  Upbraid  me, — curse 
me  if  you  will,  Gerald,  but  for  God's  sake  do  not  shun 
me.  Let  us  meet  as  friends.  I  swear  I  will  not  meet 
you  otherwise. 

"  Mrs.  Morris  invites  me  to  luncheon  with  you  and 
Mr.  Ray.  Mr.  Morris  is  hurrying  home,  and  her 
mother  will  be  there;  but  Gerald,  I  know  you  so  well 
that  I  feel  you  will  not  accept  if  you  think  I  am  to 
be  present ;  and  to-day  I  write  to  her  declining  because 
I  am  still  so  weak  and  shaken.  Is  not  this  proof  that 
I  mean  to  regard  your  wishes?  The  bearer  will  call 
for  an  answer  to-night.  You  may  trust  him  im 
plicitly.  Unless  you  mean  to  drive  me  to  despair, 
write  me  one  little  word  in  kindness. 

"  MADELEINE." 

For  an  hour  after  Ray  left  the  room  Mr.  Blake  sat 
there  deep  in  thought.  Then  stable-call  sounded,  and 
he  shook  himself  together.  Ray  came  whistling  in 
with  the  gale,  blithe  and  cheery,  his  face  full  of  sun 
shine,  yet  sprinkled  with  flakes  of  snow. 


138  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Going  to  stables,  old  man  ?"  he  cried.     "  Come  on." 

"One  moment,  Billy.  Did  you  tell  Truscott  about 
the  invitation?" 

"  Yes.     I  wanted  his  opinion, — for  my  own  benefit, 
Blake,"  was  the  reply,  in  much  more  solemn  tone. 
.  "  What  did  he  say  f' 

"  He  says  it  would  pain  the  Morrises  very  much  if 
we  did  not  go,  and  they  are  people  who  deserve  every 
consideration  ;  and — after  what  you  tell  me  about  Mrs. 
Granger's  declining — there  seems  no  reason  against 
it,  and  Fve  simply  got  to  go.  Here's  a  note  from 
Morris  himself,  from  Omaha.  It  seems  he  knew  my 
sister  and  Rallston, — read  it." 

And  Blake  read.  It  was  a  business-man's  note, 
brief,  pointed,  yet  full  of  earnest  gratitude  and  a  hope 
he  had  of  meeting  them  under  his  own  roof.  Blake 
returned  it  silently. 

"  Then  I  suppose  we  go,"  was  all  he  said. 

That  evening  Ray  begged  him  to  come  and  call  on 
somebody  and  get  out  of  himself  for  a  while;  but 
Blake  declined.  He  had  something  to  attend  to,  he 
said,  and  yet,  when  first  call  sounded  for  tattoo  and 
Ray  popped  in  a  moment  to  see  what  his  chum  was 
about,  he  found  him  smoking  his  brier-root  pipe  and 
doing  practically  nothing.  At  this  moment  Hogan 
came  in  from  the  rear  room. 

"There's  a  man  out  at  the  back  gate,  sorr;  says  he's 
come  for  a  note  from  the  lootenant." 

"  Who  is  it?"  asked  Blake,  shortly. 

"I  can't  see  him,  sorr.  He's  all  bundled  up  in  fur; 
but  it's  wan  of  the  depot  horses  he's  ridin',  and  he  talks 
like  a  cockney." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  139 

"  Tell  him  there  is  no  answer." 

Hogan  vanished.  Blake  turned  sharply  away  and 
went  out  into  the  hall.  Ray,  looking  anxiously  after 
him,  saw  as  he  passed  under  the  hall  lamp  how  white 
and  set  his  face  was.  Presently,  in  again  came 
Hogan. 

"The  man  says  there's  a  mistake,  and  could  he 
spake  with  the  lootenant?" 

"  I  suppose  he  could  if  he  came  in,"  said  Ray. 
"  How  is  it,  Blake  ?"  he  called. 

And  Blake's  voice  came  back  from  the  hall, — 

f'  There  is  no  mistake  whatever,  and  there  is  no 
answer." 

When  Ray  went  out  for  his  overcoat  and  for  the 
little  hurricane  lamp  he  always  carried  at  night  roll- 
calls,  just  as  the  trumpets  began  to  sound  the  march 
down  the  line,  he  took  Blake's  long,  thin  fingers  in  his 
strong  grasp,  gave  the  limp  hand  a  vigorous  squeeze, 
and  then  burst  forth  into  the  wintry  night  without  a 
word. 

On  the  following  day  the  two  officers  sat  in  Morris's 
spacious  parlor,  listening  with  such  patience  as  was 
possible  to  the  voluble  assurances  of  the  lady  of  the 
house  that  never,  never  would  she  or  Mr.  Morris  for 
get  their  heroism  or  cease  to  praise  their  skill.  Her 
mother,  a  sedate  old  lady,  mercifully  deaf,  was  brought 
in  and  presently  Morris  himself  appeared,  having  just 
rushed  up  from  the  railway-station,  saying  he  could 
not  let  even  urgent  business  prevent  his  hastening  to 
grasp  their  hands  and  expressing  his  heart-felt  appreci 
ation  of  what  they  had  done  for  him  and  his. 

"  I  must  be  at  the  bank  in  half  an  hour/'  he  said, 


140  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

as  he  wrung  their  hands  and  looked  at  his  wife.  "  Isn't 
lunch  ready  ?" 

"  It  will  be  in  one  minute,"  was  the  answer.  And 
before  the  minute  was  over  the  hall-door  was  opened 
and  Madeleine  Granger,  beaming  with  smiles,  cordi 
ality,  and  unaffected  delight,  swept  forward, — a  vision 
of  queenly  grace  and  beauty, — greeted  her  hostess  with 
brief,  joyous  words,  then  turned  suddenly  on  Blake, 
both  her  white,  jewelled  hands  extended, — frankness, 
gladness,  laughing  triumph  illumining  her  exquisite 
face. 

"  Ah,  Sir  Galahad  !  Have  I  caught  you  at  last, — you 
and  Mr.  Ray?  Now,  can  I  not  tell  you  how  heartily 
I  thank  you  ?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  141 


CHAPTER    X. 

MRS.  FREEMAN  was  seated  in  her  cosey  parlor,  a 
work-basket  at  one  side  and  a  cutting-table  on  the 
other.  That  there  should  be  anything  incongruous  in 
the  use  of  the  state  apartment  of  the  little  army  home 
for  such  purposes  never  troubled  her  bonny  head  a 
particle.  There  were  only  two  sleeping-rooms  aloft, 
the  children's  and  her  own.  There  were  only  two 
rooms  on  the  ground  floor  in  the  house  proper, — the 
parlor  and  the  dining-room.  The  kitchen  was  in  an 
annex  to  the  cottage.  The  servants'  room  in  an  annex 
to  the  kitchen.  The  coal-shed,  wood-shed,  the  trunk- 
and  box-sheds  were  annexes  to  the  servants'  quarters, 
and  the  cow-shed  was  an  annex  attached  impartially  to 
the  rearmost  end  of  the  trunk-room  and  to  the  inner 
side  of  the  high  fence  of  rough,  unpainted,  weather- 
warped  boarding  that  separated  the  premises  from  the 
bleak  wastes  of  prairie  that  stretched  far  away  north 
ward.  The  big  frontier  fort  was  not  yet  ten  years 
of  age.  It  had  been  built  at  fabulous  expense  of 
the  cheapest  possible  materials.  .Its  diamond-shaped 
parade  had  been  enclosed  on  the  two  adjacent  western 
sides  by  double  cottages  for  officers'  quarters  with*  an 
imposing  pine  edifice  at  the  apex  for  the  abode  of  the 
colonel  commanding.  IB  the  days  when  most  of  the 
commissioned  force  were  bachelors,  either  by  actual 


142  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

right  and  the  mercy  of  Providence,  or  by  brevet  and 
the  force  of  circumstances,  it  made  little  difference  that 
four  lieutenants  were  sometimes  crammed  into  quarters 
intended  only  for  one;  but  when  wives  and  children 
began  to  come,  it  made  a  good  deal.     Then  the  limited 
appropriation  vouchsafed   by  an   omniscient  Congress 
was  strained   to  the  uttermost  farthing  to  eke  out  a 
shelter  for  the  lambs  thus  driven  to  refuge  within  gar 
rison  limits,  and  makeshifts  of  every  buildable  descrip 
tion  were  tacked  on  the  rear  elevations  of  the  brown 
cottages :  "  linters"  on  the  flanks  of  those  intended  for 
officers  of  higher  rank;  "  linters"  to  the  kitchen  an 
nexes,  and  ramshackle  sheds,  of  every  possible  shape 
but  shapely,  to  the  sheds  already  spiked  to  the  main 
establishment, — nails  would  not  have  held  against  the 
Cheyenne  zephyr.     Like  those  interminable  structures 
children  sometimes  build  with  cards,  there  really  was 
a  substantial  framework  to  one  portion,  the  original 
nucleus  of  the  pile,  but  all  the  rest  was  shanty.     Man 
after   man    the    successive   commanding   officers    had 
striven  to  effect  some  degree  of  improvement  and  uni 
formity  in  the  back  yards  of  the  garrison,  but  found 
that  there  was  a  sight  even  more  pitiable  to  be  en 
countered  first,  and  that  was  the  bill  of  particulars  of 
the  appropriation  for  repairs  of  quarters  at  Fort  Rus 
sell.     Man  after  man  the  successive  post  quartermasters 
had  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  the  occupants  and 
furnished  plank  and  scantling,  spikes  and  nails ;  and 
year  after  year  had  this  pennywise  patchwork  been 
going  on,  until  the  result  was  a  veritable  architectural 
crazy  quilt  minus  all  that  makes  the  quilt  .attractive, — 
its  bright  variety  of  color.     Nothing  on  earth  was  ever 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  143 

much  more  unpicturesque  than  a  rear  view  of  the  fort. 
Mr.  Blake,  indeed,  when  righteously  exasperated  at  the 
conduct  of  the  powers  that  were  in  command  of  the 
post  during  the  previous  summer,  had  epitomized  the 
situation  and  perilled  his  commission  by  saying  that 
there  was  only  one  thing  crazier  than  the  head-quarters 
of  Fort  Russell,  and  that  was  the  hind.  "  And  yet," 
said  he,  "things  are  not  half  as  bad  behind  now  as 
they  were  before/'  which  was  true  despite  its  likeness 
to  Tom  Hood,  for  a  vast  improvement  had  been  effected 
in  a  single  night,  so  far  as  appearances  were  concerned, 
when  the  cleansing  fires  of  a  conflagration  had  well- 
nigh  obliterated  one  side  of  the  diamond  and  reduced 
the  officers'  quarters  by  just  a  dozen. 

And  yet  people  were  happy  in  those  quaint  old 
rookeries,  now  fast  vanishing  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ; 
were  even  comfortable  so  long  as  the  short  summer 
lasted ;  but  when  the  wintry  gales  began,  threatening 
to  lift  the  flimsy  structures  from  their  iron  anchorage, 
no  amount  of  fuel  would  keep  them  warm.  All 
around  their  bases  they  were  banked  with  earth,  hard 
rammed  and  sodded,  though  the  sod  refused  to  sprout. 
Every  knot-hole  was  plugged.  Extra  sheets  of  tar- 
paper  were  tacked  throughout  the  interior,  and  ten 
thicknesses  of  the  Chicago  Times  were  laid  beneath  the 
carpets, — the  only  instance  wherein  the  editorials  of  that 
enterprising  sheet  were  ever  known  to  stand  between 
the  army  and  the  blasts  of  adversity.  Yet  even  tar- 
paper  and  the  Times  could  not  prevail  against  the 
Wyoming  gales,  and  despite  these  vaunted  barricades 
the  wind  still  blew  where  it  listed  and  we  heard  the 
sound  thereof  many  a  time  and  oft  to  the  utter  exclu- 


144  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

sion  of  all  bugle-calls,  and  there  was  nothing  but  the 
still  small  voice  of  conscience  to  warn  the  martial  occu 
pants  that  reveille  and  stables  were  due,  and  'twas  time 
to  be  up  and  doing. 

Now,  Mrs.  Freeman's  bright  little  parlor  was  as 
warm  and  cosey  and  cheery  as  any  in  the  post,  yet  she 
sat  with  her  dainty,  slippered  feet  close  to  the  big  coal 
stove  that  cumbered  the  room,  and  a  thick  India  shawl 
was  thrown  over  her  shoulders.  Within  a  radius  of 
six  or  eight  feet  of  the  stove  all  was  warm  enough. 
Beyond  that  limit  the  biting  wind  that  forced  its  way 
through  imperceptible  cracks  and  crannies  triumphed 
over  the  glowing  base  burner  and  the  carpet  was  bulged 
up  in  the  middle  like  a  segment  of  some  big  balloon. 
The  children,  delving  at  their  lessons  in  the  dining- 
room  beyond,  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  slip 
ping  from  their  chairs  and  darting  in  from  time  to 
time  and  jumping  on  the  huge  puff  of  "  Body  Brus 
sels"  in  hopes  of  hearing  an  explosion  similar  to  that 
produced  when  smashing  an  inflated  paper  bag;  but 
the  maternal  mandate  to  return  instantly  to  their  seats 
was  the  only  audible  result. 

A  sweet  homelike  picture  she  made,  this  dainty  bit 
of  wife  and  motherhood,  as  she  sat  there  busy  with 
her  needlework,  yet  keeping  watchful  eye  upon  the 
reluctant  students  of  the  other  room.  The  red  gold 
of  her  wealth  of  hair  was  tinged  with  the  fierce  glow 
from  the  anthracite;  the  soft  bloom  on  her  rounded 
cheek  was  deepened  by  the  intense  heat  of  the  burning 
mass.  She  had  a  pretty,  bird-like  way  of  poising  her 
head  on  one  side  and  surveying  her  work  at  each  new 
turn,  and  her  parted  lips — soft  and  crimson — would 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  145 

close  with  an  air  of  womanly  decision  and  her  bright 
head  nod  sagely  as  she  communed  with  herself  upon 
the  probable  effect  of  the  garment  she  was  designing. 
Once  in  a  while  she  would  glance  at  the  clock,  as 
though  impatient  for  some  one's  coming.  Her  husband 
was  on  court-martial  duty,  as  she  knew,  and  could  not 
be  in  before  the  brief  recess  at  noon,  when  he  usually 
overhauled  the  children's  slates.  Once  in  a  while  she 
turned  and  glanced  over  her  sloping  shoulder  to  the 
long  curve  of  the  road  towards  the  adjutant's  office,  as 
though  expecting  some  one  from  that  quarter.  None 
of  the  sisterhood  were  abroad  on  such  a  day.  Femi 
nine  drapery  could  not  stand  the  buffeting,  and  locomo 
tion,  except  to  leeward,  was  impossible.  As  the  Free- 
mans  lived  near  the  head  of  the  row  and  next  door  to 
Major  Waldron,  she  could  not  expect  a  visitor  from 
below,  and  Mrs.  Waldron  had  her  own  brood  to  teach. 
Between  the  colonel's  quarters  and  the  head  of  the 
bend  and  their  own  double  cottage  was  a  broad  open 
space  through  which  the  gale  tore  madly,  as  the  quiver 
ing  fence  bore  testimony,  and,  much  as  Mrs.  Atherton 
wanted  to  run  over  to  see  Mrs.  Freeman  on  this  par 
ticular  morning,  she  knew  she  could  not  make  the  trip 
without  imminent  danger  of  being  blown,  like  the 
witches  of  old,  midway  7twixt  the  shivering  earth  and 
the  frowning  sky. 

Yet  there  was  one  woman,  albeit  a  very  young  one, 
whom  Mrs.  Freeman  confidently  expected  at  ten  o'clock, 
— it  was  nearly  eleven  now  and  she  had  not  come, — 
and  this  was  Nannie  Bryan.  One  of  the  children  was 
to  have  a  birthday  party  within  the  week.  They  were 
all  growing  fond  of  "  Prairie  Nan,"  as  some  of  them 
o  k  13 


146  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

had  laughingly  begun  to  call  her,  and  Mrs.  Freeman's 
early  interest  in  the  untaught  and  motherless  girl 
seemed  to  have  grown  with  every  week.  From  having 
been  a  stranger  in  the  garrison  there  was  now  hardly 
ever  a  bright  day,  no  matter  how  cold,  when  she  did 
not  come  galloping  on  her  wiry  pony  into  the  west 
gate  past  the  band  quarters,  and,  waving  her  joyous 
hail  to  the  officers  about  the  adjutant's  office,  would 
spring  from  the  saddle  at  Freeman's  gate  and  be  right 
lovingly  welcomed  by  the  fair  young  hostess  herself. 
There  were  a  few  among  the  housewives  of  the  — th 
in  those  days  who  were  not  visible  to  profane  eyes 
before  the  noontide  bugle ;  but  Mrs.  Freeman  was  not 
one.  When  she  came  singing  down  to  breakfast  at 
guard-mounting  every  morning,  with  her  sturdy  chil 
dren  dancing  on  before,  she  was  dressed  for  the  day, 
and  every  item  of  her  pretty  home  toilet  was  as  fresh 
and  trim  as  it  could  have  been  for  a  reception.  If  the 
men  of  the  — th  had  any  fault  to  find,  it  was  that  her 
beautiful  hair  was  almost  too  carefully  arranged, — it 
looked  so  bewitching  when  in  partial  disarray.  Bobby 
Royce,  Freeman's  junior  subaltern,  had  once  said  he 
would  give  a  month's  pay  if  Freeman's  house  would 
only  take  fire  at  night, — "  Then  there  might  be  a 
chance  of  seeing  Mrs.  Freeman  with  her  hair  down." 

"  What  can  possibly  keep  Nan  ?"  finally  exclaimed 
the  lady  of  the  house,  rising  from  her  seat  and  going 
to  the  window,  looking  first  tip  the  road  towards  the 
office,  then  .down,  as  though  it  were  just  possible  she 
might  have  been  blown  beyond  the  post.  The  glance 
down  the  line  was  followed  by  an  almost  instantaneous 
retreat.  Somebody  was  coming  who  stood  not  high  in 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  147 

her  good  graces;  for  Mrs.  Freeman's  .sweet  face  was  as 
frank  as  the  opinions  of  our  nearest  friends. 

Another  moment  and  the  clank  of  a  sabre  and  the 
stamp  of  heavy  boots  were  heard  on  the  cold,  creak 
ing  piazza,  and  the  snap-bang  of  the  little  gong-bell  at 
the  door.  Ordinarily,  when  the  sers7ants  were  busy, 
Mrs.  Freeman  never  hesitated  to  go  thither  herself. 
Now  she  turned,  stepped  to  the  kitchen  and  called  the 
captain's  striker. 

"Somebody  is  at  the  door,  Hansen,"  she  said,  in  a 
tone  that  told  volumes  to  those  who  knew  her.  "  If 
he  wants  to  see  Captain  Freeman,  tell  him  the  captain's 
at  the  court-room." 

But  the  visitor  did  not  want  to  see  Captain  Free 
man.  In  huge  fur  cap  and  collar  and  beaver  gaunt 
lets,  in  the  snug-fitting  army  overcoat  worn  in  those 
days,  in  heavy  top  boots  and  girt  with  sabre-belt,  his 
long  moustache  stiff  with  frost  and  his  eyelids  red 
with  the  cold  and  wind,  a  tall  officer  stamped  into  the 
hall  and  thence  into  the  parlor.  At  sight  of  him, 
down  went  the  children's  books,  and  the  two  rushed 
upon  him,  enthusiastically  clasping  his  legs. 

"  Back  to  your  books,  instantly  !  Obey  me  now," 
she  said,  with  infinite  sternness  of  mien,  as  the  young 
sters  looked  up  amazed  and  crestfallen.  "  Do  you 
hear?"  she  added,  with  a  stamp  of  the  slippered  foot; 
and  then  with  wide-open  and  reproachful  eyes  the 
little  ones  crept,  silent  and  sorely  hurt,  away.  There 
was  no  smile  in  her  eyes  as  the  mother  then  turned 
towards,  yet  not  to,  her  unwanted  visitor.  She  stood 
bending  over  her  work-basket,  never  looking  at  him  as 
she  calmly  asked, — 


148  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  You  wished  to  see  the  captain,  Mr.  Blake  ?  Didn't 
Hansen  tell  you  he  was  over  at  the  court-room  ?" 

"  Not  a  whit,  fair  lady.  Why,  look  at  your  carpet ! 
it  would  fit  a  Falstaff.  I  thought  when  I  helped  you 
nail  that  down  we  laid  the  ghost  of  every  breeze." 
And  Blake  took  a  slide  at  the  wind-swollen  mound, 
never  noting  the  icy  manner  of  his  captain's  wife, — 
the  woman  whom  he  swore  by,  as  he  often  said. 

"Yes,"  was  her  absent  reply.  "I  wonder  what's 
got  into  it."  Almost  anything  was  better  than  that 
he  should  talk  of  topics  nearer  home.  She  had  been 
warned  of  the  purpose  of  his  coming. 

"  Wind,  empty  wind,"  he  ranted.  "  Ah  I  have  it 
now : 

'  The  Times  are  out  of  joint.    Oh,  cursed  spite 
That  ever  I  was  born  to  set' 

But  who  on  earth  could  ever  set  the  Times  right? 
Why  !  You're  looking  white  and  far  from  well,"  he 
cried,  with  sudden  change  from  his  ranting,  laughing 
tone,  as  he  turned  and  caught  sight  of  her  face. 
"There's  nothing  wrong,  I  hope.  I  just  came  to  ask 
you  to  do  me  a  great  favor." 

"  There's  nothing  wrong  with  me,  Mr.  Blake."  But 
the  blue  eyes  looked  coldly  and  calmly  into  his  anxious 
face.  "  Is  it  about  the  theatricals  you  wish  to  see 
me?" 

"  Yes.  You  know  that  since  Hollis  had  to  go  I've 
stepped  into  his  shoes,  and  all  the  management  falls 
on  my  shoulders." 

"  I  have  heard  of  your  stepping  into  his  shoes,"  she 
answered,  with  no  unnecessary  emphasis,  yet  the  tone 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  149 

brought  sudden  spasm  to  his  lips  and  new  pain  to  his 
smarting  eyes.  "  But  you  had  something  to  ask  of 
me  with  regard  to  the  theatricals,  Mr.  Blake.  You 
know  I  cannot  act." 

"  I  see  you  cannot/'  he  answered  slowly,  his  face 
sad  and  changed.  "  And  now,  will  you  tell  me  the 
head  and  front  of  mine  offending  ?" 

She  stood  erect  at  once  and  looked  him  fairly  in  the 
eyes,  though  her  voice  trembled  when  she  began  to 
speak. 

"I  will.  I  .would  not  be  honest  with  you  if  I 
failed.  We  have  known  you  longer,  my  husband  and 
I,  than  any  one  else  in  the  regiment.  No  one  was  so 
near  to  us  when  we  came  into  the  — th  as  you.  Cap 
tain  Freeman  never  rested  until  he  secured  your  trans 
fer  to  his  troop,  and  you  well  know  how  true  a  friend 
he  is.  My  children  love  you.  We  all  had  the  utmost 
faith  in  you.  A  month  ago  you  must  have  known 
what  the  regiment  thought  of  Mr.  Hollis  because  of 
his  devotions  to  Mrs.  Granger, — you  yourself  showed 
plainly  your  own  disapproval, — and  yet  in  this  last 
fortnight  you  have  been  her  shadow.  Everywhere  she 
goes,  you  go  ;  where  she  is  not  invited  and  you  are, 
you  send  regrets.  While  Major  Granger  was  here 
you  met  only  occasionally  ;  since  he  was  summoned  to 
Omaha,  ten  days  ago,  you  have  been  her  constant 
companion,  her  escort  to  every  affair  in  town,  to  both 
the  dances  here.  Mr.  Blake,  I  cannot  recognize  as  a 
friend  a  woman  who  accepts  such  attentions  in  her 
husband's  absence,  and  I  cannot  respect  a  man  who 
tenders  them." 

She  stood  there  before  him,  brave,  unflinching,  like 
13* 


150  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

a  little  Puritan,  though  the  tears  began  to  gather  in 
her  honest  eyes.  She  liked  him  well,  but  she  was  not 
the  woman  to  shrink  from  what  she  deemed  the  right. 
She  was  one  of  his  stanchest  friends,  but  her  rule  was 
inflexible.  She  would  uphold  one  only  so  long  as  he 
or  she  upheld  the  right,  and  when  lapsing  into  wrong 
doing,  yielding  to  temptation,  one  look  into  the  mirror 
of  her  lustrous  eyes  would  tell  the  sinner  what  that 
pure  heart  thought.  Bob  Royce  used  to  say  that  when 
he  had  been  doing  that  which  he  ought  not  to  have 
done,  the  two  women  whom  he  could  not  bear  to  meet 
were  his  mother  and  Mrs.  Freeman.  He  spoke  of  the 
latter's  face  as  his  moral  barometer. 

For  a  moment  Blake  stood  in  silence,  his  dark  eyes 
steadfastly  regarding  those  of  moistening  blue.  At 
last  he  spoke  : 

(t  Mrs.  Freeman,  you  are  aware,  are  you  not,  that  I 
knew  Mrs.  Granger  long  before  I  knew  any  one  in  the 
—tli  ?" 

"  Yes,  fully,  Mr.  Blake ;  but  it  does  not  alter  my 
view  of  the  matter." 

"And  would  you  have  me  understand  that  people 
are  talking  of  her  and  of  my  attentions  to  her?" 

"  Mr.  Blake,  I  am  not  telling  you  what  other  people 
think  or  say;  I  am  telling  you  my  own  opinion." 

"Most  women  fortify  their  criticisms  by  ample 
quotations  from  what  '  everybody  says'  or  '  everybody 
thinks/"  he  rejoined,  a  bitter  smile  flickering  about 
the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

"  Oh,  you  can  have  anybody  else's  opinion  by  ask 
ing,  I  presume;  but  you  asked  my  reasons  simply,  and 
I  speak  only  for  myself." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  151 

Again  there  was  an  instant  of  silence.  Something 
clown  in  the  depths  of  his  heart  seemed  pleading  with 
him  to  pour  forth  the  very  truth  to  this  pure-minded, 
fearless  woman,  and  to  beg  her  counsel,  her  sympathy. 
His  eyes  were  full  of  wistful  ness  and  trouble.  She 
saw  it, — realized  the  struggle  going  on  within  him,  and 
was  touched,  yet  not  one  jot  nor  tittle  would  she  abate 
of  her  position.  Suddenly  there  came  the  sound  of  a 
joyous  girlish  voice  without;  the  outer  door  flew  open, 
and  again  the  children,  who  had  been  straining  their 
ears  to  catch  the  barely  audible  words  of  the  grave 
colloquy  in  the  parlor,  forgot  their  natural  yet  innocent 
curiosity,  tumbled  with  tumultuous  welcome  into  the 
hall  and  appeared  the  next  instant  hugging  Nannie 
Bryan. 

"  I  couldn't  get  here  before,  Mrs.  Freeman,"  laughed 
the  girl.  "  Beppo  broke  out  of  his  stall  this  morning, 
and  was  away  over  the  prairie  before  any  one  knew  it. 
It  took  hours  to  catch  him.  Good-morning,  Mr. 
Blake,"  she  added,  with  shy,  sudden  glance.  "  I 
didn't  know  you  were  here.  Am  I  very,  very  late, 
Mrs.  Freeman?" 

"  Better  late  than  never,  Nan.  Come  right  to  the 
stove,  child  ;  you  must  be  frozen.  Did  you  ever  see 
such  cheeks,  Mr.  Blake?  Look  at  the  glow."  And 
as  she  spoke  her  white  fingers  were  unclasping  the 
dingy  fur  cape  and  unfastening  the  strings  of  the  girl's 
rude  riding-cap.  Nan's  head  hung  suddenly  lower, 
and  the  deep  flush  deepened.  But  Blake  made  no 
answer  to  the  query.  Before  either  the  child  or  her 
friend  and  hostess  could  realize  it  he  had  quickly 
turned  and,  without  one  word  of  farewell,  vanished 


152  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

from  the  room.  The  sabre  rattled  as  its  scabbard 
struck  against  the  balustrade  in  the  narrow  hall-way. 
There  was  a  slain  of  the  door,  a  click  of  the  latch  of 
the  little  gate  in  front,  and  he  was  gone.  Nannie 
Bryan,  stealing  a  look  into  Mrs.  Freeman's  bonny  face, 
saw  that  her  eyes  were  wet  as  with  recent  tears. 

"  Are  you  sure  I'm  not — I'm  not  going  to  be  in 
your  way  this  morning,  Mrs.  Freeman?"  she  faltered. 
"I'm  afraid  you  don't  feel  well." 

"  Indeed  you're  not  in  the  way,  Nannie.  Children, 
what  did  I  tell  you  ?  Go  back  to  your  books,  and  do 
not  dare  come  to  that  door  again  until  I  call  you.  Go 
at  once !  No,  Nan,  I've  been  waiting  for  you  to  try 
this  on, — your  party  dress.  But  get  warm  first." 

"  Oh,  I'm  not  cold.  But  I  thought  you  looked  as 
though  you  had  been  crying." 

"  I've  been  scolding  Mr.  Blake,  Nan.  It's  nothing 
serious, — nothing  you  would  understand." 

But  even  at  the  ranch,  far  up  the  valley,  busy  rumor 
had  already  been  telling  the  tale.  Cowboys  who  hated 
Granger ;  hunters  from  town  who  were  only  too  glad 
of  the  chance  to  gossip  of  the  army  people ;  scouts  and 
soldiers  out  for  a  lark,  had  all  loosened  their  tongues 
at  Bryan's  bar,  and  the  child  had  indeed  heard  much 
she  could  not  understand,  yet  that  gave  her  vague  and 
bitter  distress.  She  turned  away  without  a  word. 

The  fire  was  burning  dimly  in  the  big  coal-fctove  as 
Blake  came  striding  into  the  sitting-room  he  and  Ray 
held  in  common.  He  hurled  off  the  heavy  furs  and 
slung  his  sabre  clattering  into  the  corner.  An  old 
cigar-box  half  filled  with  smoking  tobacco  lay  at  the 
edge  of  the  centre-table,  and  a  beaver  gauntlet  struck 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  153 

and  sent  it  whirling  to  the  floor,  scattering  the  "Lynch- 
burg  sun-dried"  all  over  the  ragged  carpet.  He  never 
noted  the  mishap,  never  removed  his  overcoat,  but 
simply  unbuttoning  it  across  the  chest,  flung  himself 
into  a  big  easy-chair,  thrust  his  booted  legs  to  the 
hearth,  threw  his  head  back  on  the  worn  and  faded 
cushion,  then  covered  his  smarting  eyes  with  long, 
slim,  quivering  hands.  He  was  alone  and  practically 
free  from  interruption.  Ray  was  a  member  of  the 
general  court  in  session  tip  at  the  adjutant's  office.  He 
himself  was  officer  of  the  day,  and  not  until  noon 
would  he  be  compelled  to  sally  forth  again  unless 
something  unforeseen  occurred.  He  wanted  to  think, 
— needed  to  think. 

And  sitting  there  in  the  dim  light  of  that  lonely 
room  Gerald  Blake  passed  in  review  the  days  of  his 
life  that  had  been  spent  within  the  sphere  of  this 
woman's  influence, — the  woman  on  whose  account  and 
for  whose  sake  he  was  losing  the  friends  he  had  won 
in  the  regiment  of  his  choice.  Not  ten  years  had  he 
known  her,  not  one  had  he  really  spent  by  her  side. 
They  met  first  at  a  quiet  resort  among  the  Maryland 
mountains, — she  a  school-girl  attending  an  invalid 
aunt;  he,  just  commissioned,  devoting  to  his  mother 
the  few  weeks  of  leave  accorded  to  him  before  going 
to  his  regiment.  She  was  but  seventeen,  and  lovely ; 
he  but  twenty-two,  and  the  only  soldier  at  the  Springs. 
There  were  other  girls  there, — lots  of  them, — and 
some  whom  his  mother  fancied  far  more  than  she  did 
Madeleine  Torrance ;  but  mothers'  fancies  in  matters 
of  that  kind  have  but  little  weight.  The  girl  gloried 
in  his  quickly-won  devotion.  It  was  such  a  triumph 


154  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

that  she,  not  yet  a  debutante,  should  have  at  her  beck 
and  call  the  tall  young  officer  who  begged  for  dances 
night  after  night,  who  took  her  to  ride  day  after  day 
or  to  walk  whenever  she  could  slip  away  from  the 
querulous  invalid  who  claimed  so  much  of  her  time. 
Before  the  short  summer  was  half  over  he  had  gone 
without  a  look  for  the  other  girls,  but  madly  in  love 
with  this  radiant  young  beauty.  He  had  been  the 
happiest  of  men  when  his  commission  reached  him. 
All  his  hope  and  ambition  had  been  centred  in  the 
military  service  of  his  country.  He  had  looked  for 
ward  with  absolute  impatience  to  joining  his  regiment, 
and  with  something  like  actual  regret  to  the  few  weeks 
which,  as  was  most  natural,  his  mother  expected  him 
to  spend  with  her  before  going.  He  was  her  only  boy. 
He  had  been  much  indulged,  and,  as  a  boy,  had  been 
wild,  capricious,  yet  full  of  loving  impulse.  He  had 
inherited  some  of  his  father's  scholarly  tastes,  and 
until  the  soldier  craze  overcame  him  had  done  fairly 
well  at  college.  But  the  chance  meeting  with  some 
young  officers  and  a  visit  to  Fortress  Monroe  had 
done  the  work.  Commissions  were  not  hard  to  win 
so  soon  after  the  great  war.  His  mother  and  sisters 
needed  no  support  from  him,  for,  after  years  of  patient 
toil  among  his  books,  the  father  had  died  leaving  just 
the  old  homestead  and  a  modest  competence.  Blake's 
first  act  after  winning  his  lieutenancy  was  to  make 
over  his  little  share  to  them,  and  now  he  was  free  to 
pursue  the  career  he  so  ardently  sought ;  yet  in  less 
than  a  fortnight  he  was  fettered  by  chains  that  bound 
his  very  heart.  In  June  he  would  have  given  almost 
anything  to  be  allowed  to  go  instantly  to  his  new 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  155 

station.  In  August  be  would  have  given  almost  any 
thing  to  stay.  In  June  his  mother  shuddered  at  the 
thought  of  the  coming  separation  ;  in  July  she  would 
eagerly  have  bidden  him  go  at  once.  Beautiful  as 
was  Madeleine  Torrance,  well  as  she  was  connected, 
refined  and  cultured  as  were  her  relatives,  and  brilliant 
as  she  herself  promised  to  be,  the  intuition  of  the 
mother  was  against  her  the  moment  she  saw  how 
utterly  her  son  was  enthralled.  Daughter  of  an  old 
and  distinguished  officer  of  the  navy  who  was  even 
then  absent  with  his  ship,  motherless  for  several  years, 
she  had  spent  much  of  her  girlhood  under  the  roof  of 
her  father's  sister,  now  helplessly  invalided,  and  re 
cently  had  been  attending  a  fashionable  school  in  New 
York.  Before  the  school-days  she  had  been  not  diffi 
cult  to  control  •  after  them  she  developed  a  wilfulness 
that  completely  baffled  the  feeble  efforts  of  her  pro 
tector.  Mothers  and  chaperons  of  other  girls  at  the 
Springs  said  that  Madeleine  was  simply  allowed  to 
run  wild;  that  it  was  scandalous  to  permit  her  to 
dance,  walk,  ride,  as  she  did  always  with  Gerald  Blake. 
Very  possibly  the  girls  said  so  too,  though  not  a  few 
of  their  number  would  eagerly  have  borne  her  cross 
of  public  disapprobation  could  they  have  but  worn 
her  crown  of  triumph.  Men  were  scarce,  very  scarce, 
at  the  Springs,  and  it  was  shocking  indeed  that  the 
one  officer  should  be  monopolized  by  one  girl  not  yet 
"out."  But  to  everything,  to  whispered  words,  to 
averted  looks,  to  even  a  gentle  mother's  gentle  warning, 
Blake  was  deaf  or  blind.  His  was  an  intense  nature. 
He  loved  or  hated  with  all  his  strength,  and  this 
radiant  girl  had  won  him  heart  and  soul.  The  last 


156  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

night  at  the  Springs— O  heaven,  could  he  ever  forget 
it! — clinging  to  his  arm  she  had  gone  with  him  to  the 
little  summer-house  at  the  cliff,  and  there  with  tears, 
with  sobbing  protestations,  she  had  sworn  that  he  could 
not  love  her  more  than  she  loved  him ;  that  for  life  or 
death  she  was  his  forever.  Oh,  how  beautiful  she  was 
that  perfect  August  night,  with  the  moonlight  bathing 
her  softly-flushing  cheek  !  How  exquisite  the  abandon 
of  her  grief  as  she  clung  to  him  in  that  parting  em 
brace,  and  gave  her  warm  young  lips  again  and  again 
to  his  passionate  kiss  ! 

Life  at  a  frontier  post  in  those  old  days  was  bad 
enough  at  best,  but  when  a  man  had  left  his  heart 
behind  him  it  was  little  short  of  hell.  How  he  lived 
through  that  first  year  of  his  service  Blake  never  quite 
understood.  Wildly  in  love,  yet  perfectly  trustful,  he 
was  at  least  shielded  from  the  temptations  which  beset 
so  many  youngsters  in  the  days  which  followed  close 
upon  the  war.  He  wrote  to  her  by  the  hour,  for  she 
had  compelled  her  aunt  to  agree  to  that  at  least,  though 
no  engagement  was  to  be  recognized  for  the  present. 
He  strove  hard  to  feel  an  interest  in  his  duties,  and 
he  held  aloof  from  all  companionship  that  was  not 
worthy  of  him  or  her.  He  had  told  his  mother  all 
his  hopes,  all  his  loves,  all  his  wild  joy  in  the  love 
she  gave  him  in  return.  "  God  grant  that  you  may  be 
happy,  my  son/7  was  all  that  she  could  say,  but  her 
heart  was  full  of  foreboding.  Once  more  the  summer 
came,  and  once  more  they  met  at  the  Springs,  and 
Blake's  heart  nearly  burst  with  impatience  when,  with 
a  month's  leave  and  three  months'  pay  in  his  pocket, 
he  tore  away  eastward.  Three  weeks  of  heaven  were 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  157 

his, — a  happiness  such  as  he  had  pictured  even  in 
his  dreams, — and  then  he  went  back  on  leaden  wings 
to  his  distant  post,  and  that  winter  was  her  first  in 
Washington  society;  his  first  in  a  mental  Gehenna. 

Less  than  two  years  from  the  date  of  their  first 
meeting  he  came  marching  into  the  supply  camp  after 
a  two  months'  sharp  and  trying  campaign  against  the 
Indians  of  the  southern  plains.  Mail  communication 
had  been  sorely  interrupted,  and  his  letters  had  been 
sent  to  the  cantonment  while,  with  a  detachment  guard 
ing  Indian  prisoners,  he  was  making  his  eager  way 
across  the  bleak  prairies  towards  her.  He  had  won 
distinction — the  high  praise  of  the  official  head  of  the 
expedition — and  consent  to  another  leave.  The  gen 
eral  commanding  the  department  had  come  forward  to 
meet  the  prisoners  and  had  promptly  granted  Blake's 
application.  And  now,  while  on  his  way  to  Wash 
ington  to  win  the  old  commodore's  consent  to  his  en 
gagement,  Blake  had  telegraphed  to  have  letters  meet 
him  at  St.  Louis,  had  called  there  at  head-quarters,  and 
was  in  the  office  of  the  chief  of  staff  when  there  saun 
tered  in  a  tall  man  in  civilian  dress  and  spectacles,  at 
sight  of  whom  up  jumped  the  department  official. 

"  Hello,  Granger !  When  did  you  leave  Wash 
ington?  By  Jove,  sir,  when  I  saw  you  there  in  Janu 
ary  I  took  it  for  granted  that  there  you  would  stay. 
We're  to  congratulate  you  it  seems.  When  is  it  to 
be?" 

"  Some  time  in  the  summer,"  was  the  smiling  answer. 
"  I'm  only  out  on  personal  business  here ;  going  back 
to-morrow.  Among  other  things  I  want  you  to  be 
one  of  my  groomsmen." 

14 


158  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Do  it,  of  course.  Oh,  let  me  present  Mr.  Blake 
of  the  — th  Infantry.  He's  going  on  too.  Mr. 
Blake,  Major  Granger." 

The  major  turned  with  a  sudden  jerk, — the  oddest 
kind  of  a  look  on  his  face.  The  adjutant-general  was 
astonished. 

"  Have  you  met  before  ?"  he  asked. 

"  Not  that  I  know  of/'  said  Blake,  pleasantly,  as  he 
proffered  a  hand,  which  the  major  shook  with  evident 
constraint  and  awkwardness,  then  suddenly  bolted 
from  the  room,  saying  he  wished  to  speak  to  an  official 
just  passing  the  door. 

"  Queer  fellow  that !"  said  the  staff-officer.  "  I'm 
blessed  if  I  can  understand  what  that  lovely  girl  could 
see  in  him  to  marry  except  his  money.'7 

"  Who  is  she?"  asked  Blake,  indifferently. 

"  A  daughter  of  old  Commodore  Torrance,  of  the 

navy, — Madeleine  Torrance.  She  was  a  belle  last 

Why,  man,  what's  the  matter?" 

That  night,  so  far  from  Blake's  steaming  eastward, 
his  mother  was  hurrying  to  St.  Louis  fast  as  train 
could  carry  her.  The  blow  had  fallen  with  savage 
force.  Despite  warnings,  never  for  an  instant  had 
Blake  doubted  her.  And  now,  until  that  morning  at 
Stannard's,  not  once  had  they  met  again.  Of  the  letters 
that  were  eventually  forwarded  to  the  St.  Louis  hotel, 
he  read  just  one  and  sent  the  others  back  with  un 
broken  seal.  There  was  left  no  doubt  whatever  that 
she  had  lied  to  him. 

Then  he  went  back  to  the  plains,  and  never  came  in 
again  until  two  years  afterwards  when  his  mother's 
health  demanded  it,  and  then  came  bereavement  and 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  159 

bitter  self-reproach.  In  his  blind  misery  he  had  shut 
himself  away  from  the  world,  from  even  the  gentle  and 
loving  mother  until  it  was  too  late.  His  sisters  lived 
alone  now  at  the  old  homestead,  and  he  soon  returned 
to  the  frontier.  Next  he  secured  a  transfer  to  the 
cavalry,  and  there  was  gradual  resumption  of  interest 
in  mundane  and  professional  affairs, — a  gradual  reas- 
sertion  of  his  own  humorous  and  kindly  self.  Not 
with  a  living  soul  had  he  ever  spoken  of  her  since  his 
mother's  death.  Never  had  he  expected  to  meet,  much 
less  to  speak  to  her  again,  when  fate  brought  him 
back  here  to  the  very  station  where  the  — th  was 
serving  when  he  first  joined  it,  and  where  he  had  good 
reason  to  suppose  it  would  not  again  appear  in  twenty 
years. 

Of  course  he  had  heard  of  her  from  time  to  time. 
They  went  abroad  right  after  the  wedding,  and  went 
amiss  soon  after  their  return.  It  seems  that  Granger 
lost  a  very  heavy  sum  in  a  Wall  Street  deal  that 
promised  fabulous  returns.  It  would  not  have  been 
so  bad  had  he  not  lost  his  head  at  the  same  time  and 
quarrelled  with  a  partner  who  had  u  stood  in"  with  him 
in  cotton  deals  in  Louisiana  during  the  war.  The 
resultant  recrimination  was  such  that  Granger  was 
exiled  from  Washington  to  the  frontier,  where  he  re 
couped  himself  as  best  he  could.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  his  quarrels  with  another  partner,  that  of  his 
bosom,  became  public  talk  at  the  capital.  His  repu 
tation  when  he  left  for  the  West  was  that  of  a  man 
who  had  escaped  by  the  Scotch  verdict, — "  not  proven/7 
and  there  were  cynics  who  said  that  therein  at  least 
they  were  well  matched.  Blake  never  knew  of  this, 


160  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

at  least  not  until  years  afterwards.  He  was  old 
enough,  however,  to  know  that  in  nine  cases  out  often, 
no  matter  how  madly  a  woman  might  profess  to  love 
one  man,  she  forgot  all  about  it  as  soon  as  she  married 
another,  and  he  had  simply  resolved  to  shut  her  out 
of  his  life  forever. 

And  yet  she  wrote  to  him  the  moment  she  returned 
from  the  East,  knowing  him  to  be  at  Russell.  He 
returned  the  note  to  her  unopened.  She  had  caught 
him  at  Stannard's,  and  he  had  escaped.  She  had 
written  again  and  again,  as  we  have  seen.  He  had 
read  these  letters,  but  refused  to  answer.  Then  she 
had  lured  him  to  the  Morris's, — and  there  trapped 
him. 

How  well  he  recalled  her  infinite  tact  and  grace  that 
day !  They  had  gone  in  to  luncheon  almost  the  moment 
after  her  arrival, — she  leaning  on  Ray's  arm,  then  sit 
ting  next  the  Kentuckian  and  winning  him  in  spite 
of  himself  before  luncheon  was  half  over.  She  knew 
all  about  Dandy,  his  pet  horse.  She  knew  friends  and 
relatives  of  the  girl  with  whom  he  was  reported  to  be 
deeply  in  love,  and  to  whom  he  was  believed  to  be 
engaged.  It  was  simply  impossible  for  him  not  to  be 
interested  in  her.  Not  until  Morris  had  gone  to  the 
bank  and  luncheon  was  over  did  she  lose  for  one 
instant  her  radiant  animation.  It  was  she  who  made 
the  affair  bright  and  successful.  Blake  could  not  talk, 
— could  not  hear  what  Mrs.  Morris  said  to  him.  His 
ears  refused  their  office,  except  for  the  sweet  accents  he 
knew  so  well  and  had  so  fondly  loved. 

At  last — was  it  collusion  ? — Mrs.  Morris  led  Mr. 
Ray  to  the  conservatory — the  only  one  in  town — and 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  161 

then  to  see  their  new  horses.  And  so  they  were  left 
in  the  parlor  alone.  With  quick  decision  of  manner 
she  had  risen,  closed  the  door  leading  to  the  dining- 
room,  then  faced  him, — not  a  sign  of  reproach,  anger, 
or  sorrow  in  her  lovely  face.  With  witching  grace  of 
manner,  smiling  confidently,  joyously,  blithely,  up  into 
his  eyes,  she  threw  forward  both  her  jewelled  hands, 
exclaiming, — 

"  Gerald,  why  should  you  refuse  a  woman's  friend 
ship  ?  Why  do  you  refuse  me  yours  ?  If  I  thought 
I  had  not  years  ago  killed  every  vestige  of  your  love 
I  would  not  ask  this.  If  you  persist  in  such  avoid 
ance  of  me  you  will  make  me — make  others — believe 
it  is  because  you  still  love  me.  The  light  went  out  of 
my  life  ten  years  ago.  I  have  told  you  the  truth. 
My  marriage  was  forced  upon  me,  Gerald ;  but  it  was 
a  mercy  to  you.  I  could  never  have  been  a  poor 
man's  wife.  I  threw  love  to  the  winds,  and  took  him 
and  his  wealth,  and  got  what  I  deserved, — ten  years  of 
misery, — many  years  of  reproaches,  insults,  taunts, 
blows.  Yes,  Gerald,  and  those  on  your  account.  I 
make  no  appeal  for  pity  or  compassion.  I  beg  for 
mercy  and  you  refuse.  It's  all  over,  Gerald.  You 
have  had  your  revenge,  if  you  only  knew  it,  a  thou 
sand  times  over.  Come,  don't  hit  a  poor  fellow  who's 
down,  down,  down."  She  was  smiling  so  trustfully 
up  in  his  dark  and  averted  face,  and  big  tears  were 
trembling  on  her  long,  curling  lashes.  "  Come,  Gerald, 
let  us  be  friends.  I  swear  to  you  I  seek  nothing  more. 
All  that  old  hope  is  dead,  dead  and  buried.  It  isn't 
in  you  to  crush  a  weak  woman  before  all  her  kind, 

— to  load   her  with   contempt.     They  all  hate  me  out 
I  14* 


162  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

there  at  the  fort ;  you  know  they  do,  and  I  haven't  a 
friend  in  the  world  now.  I'm  lonely,  heart-sick,  hope 
less,  and  yet — look,  Gerald,  I  am  in  earnest,  and — am 
I  quite  worth  scorning?" 

The  eyes  of  men  rest  not  often  on  a  lovelier  picture 
than  made  this  fair  and  graceful  woman,  pleading  so 
humbly  through  her  tears.  But  though  he  turned  and 
looked  upon  her  as  she  urged,  he  had  steeled  his  heart. 
Once  only  had  he  seen  her  in  tears.  There  was  even 
contempt  in  the  stern,  cold  gaze  he  bent  upon  her. 

"  Mrs.  Granger,"  he  said  at  last,  "  it  seems  that  in 
spite  of  every  effort  of  mine  you  have  brought  about 
this  meeting.  I  cannot  feel  the  faintest  wish  for  even 
the  semblance  of  your  friendship,  and  cannot  believe 
you  sincere  in  the  wish  for  mine.  You  have  some 
object  in  view  which  is  beyond  me  to  fathom." 

"  Gerald  !"  she  cried.  "  Is  this  you  ?— you  ?  Can 
you  say  such  fearful  things  to  me, — of  me.  My  God  ! 
Have  I  fallen  so  low  ?" 

She  broke  off  as  suddenly  as  she  began  ;  turned  with 
a  gasping  cry  and  rushed  towards  the  door  leading  to 
the  hall.  She  stumbled  at  the  piano-stool  and  plunged 
heavily  forward.  Down  she  would  have  gone  but  for 
his  quick  spring  and  for  his  strong  arms.  Blake  never 
knew  just  how  it  happened, — how  he  managed  it, — or 
she.  For  one  instant  she  was  clasped  to  his  bounding 
heart  as  he  rose  to  his  feet.  Then  she  broke  from 
him,  burying  her  face  in  the  filmy  handkerchief,  sway 
ing  in  an  uncontrollable  agony  of  grief,  and,  as  she 
sank  upon  the  sofa,  somehow  there  dangled  from  the 
lace-fringed  opening  of  her  gown  a  locket  that  he  had 
given  her  ten  long  years  before.  He  knew  it  at  a 


1  Down  she  would  have 


gone  but  for  his  quick  spring  and  for  his 
strong  arms." 

Page  162. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  1(53 

glance.  Her  hand  seemed  suddenly  to  find  it.  As 
though  aghast  with  shame  and  confusion  she  turned 
quickly  away  and  thrust  it  back  into  her  bosom. 
Then  her  frame  shook  with  the  violence  of  her  sobs. 

When  Mrs.  Morris's  high-pitched  voice  was  heard 
a  few  moments  later,  Madeleine  Granger  rose  and 
darted  into  the  dining-room, — and  Blake  followed. 

And  now,  as  he  sat  here  thinking  of  Mrs.  Freeman's 
words,  he  recalled  every  incident  of  the  interviews  that 
succeeded  that  memorable  day.  First  there  had  come 
the  major's  letter,  as  she  vowed  it  should,  in  which 
Granger  now  for  the  first  time  assured  him  on  his 
honor  as  an  officer  and  a  gentleman  that  he  was  unable 
to  account  for  the  assault  at  his  door-way  that  night. 
He  would  have  said  as  much  before  had  not  the  letter 
brought  to  him  by  Mr.  Kay  been  so  hostile  in  its  tone 
that  his  anger  was  aroused,  and  he  had  refused  to 
speak  through  an  intermediary.  He  thanked  him  for 
the  inestimable  service  rendered  him,  begged  that  by 
gones  might  be  by-gones,  and  that  he  might  have  the 
pleasure  of  welcoming  him  to  his  roof.  Ray  had 
scouted  the  letter  as  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  the 
situation ;  but  Blake  was  more  magnanimous.  Ray 
said  he  had  no  confidence  whatever  in  Granger's  honor 
either  as  an  officer  or  a  gentleman,  and  was  simply 
stunned  when  Blake  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  at 
the  depot  to  meet  the  Morrises.  The  Turners  and 
Raymonds  went  at  the  same  time,  and  Mrs.  Turner 
forgave  Mrs.  Granger  on  the.  spot,  and  forgot  every 
thing  she  had  ever  said  about  her  the  moment  she  saw 
the  elegance  of  that  dining-room.  Then  the  dinner 
call  had  to  be  paid,  and  meantime  there  was  a  concert 


164  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

in  town  given  by  a  famous  company  of  singers  en  route 
to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  an  opera  by  another  one  going 
eastward ;  and  then  a  dance  at  the  hotel.  Then  the 
Grangers  gave  a  luncheon  to  some  friends  from  Denver, 
and  four  or  five  bachelors  were  bidden  from  the  fort. 
And  then  there  was  a  candy-pull  at  the  Whitings  in 
town.  And  then  the  church  fair  began,  and  Mrs. 
Granger  was  a  "  lady  patroness,"  so  called.  And  then 
there  came  one  of  those  unaccountably  mild  spells  that 
sometimes  bless  those  barren  eastward  slopes  in  the 
heart  of  winter,  and  there  were  days  of  radiant  sun 
shine  and  southerly  breeze,  and  the  ladies  came  out 
from  town  in  the  saddle, — Mrs.  Granger  looking  like 
a  Diana  and  Mrs.  Morris  like  a  dump, — and  Granger 
couldn't  ride  at  all.  And  then  he  went  to  Omaha, 
and  had  astonished  the  group  at  the  colonel's  the  night 
before  he  left  by  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  Blake,  Mrs. 
Granger  says  if  it  isn't  too  much  trouble  she  wishes 
you  would  come  over  and  try  the  new  horse  I  think 
of  buying  for  her.  Fra  no  judge."  It  was  Blake 
and  Granger  now  when  they  addressed  each  other,  and 
there  was  much  apparent  off-hand  cordiality.  And 
then  such  charming  little  notes  were  coming  every  day 
or  so  :  "  Mon  ami, — If  you  and  Mr.  Royce  will  drop 
in  for  luncheon  to-day,  Mrs.  Morris  and  I  will  be 
charmed,  We  might  drive  her  home  later.  Sincerely, 
M.  G." — all  so  frank,  friendly,  unconstrained.  Any 
body  could  read  them.  For  that  matter,  anybody  could 
have  heard  every  word  that  had  passed  between  them 
since  that  day  in  the  Morrises'  dining-room.  Who 
could  possibly  be  less  sentimental,  more  sunshiny, 
jolly,  frank,  merry,  than  Mrs.  Granger?  The  record- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  165 

ing  angel  of  that  other  and  better  world,  said  Blake  to 
himself,  could  have  seen  or  heard  nothing  in  her  that 
would  not  bear  the  strictest  scrutiny.  It  was  these 
terrestrial  angels  and  envious  critics  at  the  fort  who 
saw  beneath  the  exquisite  polish  of  the  surface  and 
condemned  her. 

And  as  for  Blake,  was  there  any  reason  he  should 
deny  himself  the  pleasure  of  her  society  so  long  as 
nothing  but  laughing  cordiality  ruled  their  frequent 
meetings?  He  was  at  his  best  when  with  her,  never 
more  joyous,  never  more  full  of  mirth  and  fun.  How 
she  applauded  his  parodies  and  bemoaned  his  puns ! 
What  peals  of  silvery  laughter  greeted  his  sallies ! 
What  fun  they  had  at  the  fair  in  town  !  What  glow 
ing  delight  in  those  glorious  gallops  over  the  rolling 
prairies!  How  admirably  her  step  seemed  atuned  to 
his  as,  after  all  those  years,  they  waltzed  again  together 
in  long,  gliding  measure  to  the  dreamy  music  of  that 
famous  band  !  Who  could  find  in  the  polished  and 
phitonic  armor  of  such  a  friendship  one  flaw  in  which 
to  drive  the  poisoned  point  of  scandal  ?  He  was  too 
keen  an  observer  not  to  see  and  know  that  his  com 
rades  lamented  and  that  his  lady  friends  in  the  — th 
resented  his  defection ;  but  he  held  that  they  had  no 
right  to  misjudge  him  or  her,  and  so  long  as  no  one 
spoke,  so  long  was  there  no  need  for  him  to  defend. 
But  now  Mrs.  Freeman  had  spoken,  and  matters  were 
taking  shape  that  must  be  met.  Down  in  the  depths 
of  his  heart  he  knew  that  her  charge  was  fully  sus 
tained.  He  was  Mrs.  Granger's  shadow  everywhere. 
He  was  bidden  everywhere  she  went.  He  did  send 
regrets  "  owing  to  previous  engagements"  when  bidden 


166  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

anywhere  where  she  was  not.  He  thought  it  amply 
sufficient  that  he  had  such  engagements.  He  did  not 
know  what  others  suspected, — that  she  had  early  infor 
mation  of  every  forthcoming  dance  or  dinner  or  card 
party  at  the  fort  and,  on  one  pretext  or  another,  pre 
empted  his  services  for  that  very  hour.  He  did  not 
know  that  the  absent  and  much  lamented  Hollis  had 
been  manipulated  in  precisely  the  same  way,  and  that 
people  were  now  comparing  him  with  the  absent  in 
terms  that  plainly  showed  they  deemed  him  much  the 
bigger  fool  of  the  two.  He  was  drifting  along,  fatuous 
and  self-deluded,  vainly  telling  himself  the  world  was 
not  pointing  to  him  in  derision.  He  was  stifling  the 
still,  small  voice  ever  crying  in  his  heart  of  hearts  and 
bidding  him  be  a  man :  cut  loose  at  once  and  for  all 
from  this  unhallowed  fascination.  Once  or  twice  he 
had  roused  himself  to  sudden  effort  and  kept  aloof  for 
several  hours.  The  little  note  that  promptly  came  to 
the  rear  door,  borne  by  the  English  coachman,  never 
made  the  faintest  complaint  of  this,  but  claimed  his 
prompt  presence  on  some  plea  which  he  could  not  re 
sist.  And  now  Mrs.  Freeman  had  raised  the  veil  and 
he  was  compelled  to  look.  War  against  it  though  he 
might,  her  word  was  true.  When  a  man  abandons  the 
society  of  all  other  women  and  is  content  only  in  the 
presence  of  one  it  is  idle  to  prate  of  platonic  friendship. 
Until  now  he  had  never  dreamed  that  his  chains  were 
welded  with  tenfold  strength, — welded  all  the  more 
firmly  because  they  were  welded  anew.  But  the  honest 
little  woman  with  the  clear,  truthful,  fearless  eyes  had 
looked  straight  into  his  soul  and  told  him  that  which 
he  could  not  deny, — and  he  had  turned  and  fled. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  167 


CHAPTER    XL 

"BLAKE,  I  thought  you  were  going  to  give  us 
'  Still  Waters  Run  Deep/  "  said  Mr.  Royce,  a  few  days 
later,  as  the  crowd  gathered  at  the  club-room  on  the 
way  back  from  stables. 

"  So  did  I,"  was  the  reply  from  behind  an  outspread 
newspaper,  and  not  another  word  would  Mr.  Blake 
vouchsafe  in  explanation. 

"  Well,  but  see  here.  Of  course  I  don't  mean  to 
pry  into  matters  that  may  be  none  of  my  business/7 
said  Royce,  after  an  embarrassing  pause;  "but  that 
certainly  was  the  arrangement,  and  so  I  announced 
it  in  town.  Now  people  want  to  know  why  it  was 
changed." 

"  Tell  them  we  couldn't  give  it  without  Hollis  for 
the  heavy  villain/7  said  Blake,  still  intrenched  behind 
the  Times,  a  paper  that  he  vehemently  denounced  and 
as  religiously  read. 

Royce  glanced  at  Clark  and  Hunter,  who  sat  there 
silent  listeners. 

"  Then  it's  only  postponed  until  Tommy  gets  back, 
is  it?  And  meantime  we  give  'Caste'  because  it  has 
no  heavy  villain?" 

"  That's  about  the  size  of  it/'  was  the  short  answer. 

For  a  moment  more  no  one  spoke.  Clark  was  a 
man,  however,  who  did  not  propose  to  allow  the  matter 


168  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

to  be  so  summarily  settled.  After  a  moment's  hesita 
tion  he  moved  over  to  the  table  where  Blake  was  seated 
and  spoke  in  low  tone. 

"  See  here,  Blake,  I'll  tell  you  what  I  heard  in  town, 
from  good  authority  too.  I  don't  mean  to  say  it's  true 
at  all,  but  it  will  give  you  an  idea  of  the  ingenuity  of 
people  in  accounting  for  things  that  are  not  fully  ex- 
.plained.  It  is  said  that  the  change  had  to  be  made 
because  Mrs.  Freeman  would  not  play  the  part  of 
'  Mrs.  Mildmay'  if  Mrs.  Granger  was  in  the  cast." 

Blake  flushed  hotly,  but  bit  his  lips  and  gathered 
himself  before  making  reply. 

"  Mrs.  Freeman  refused  on  general  principles,  Clark. 
She  said  she  could  not  act  at  all." 

"  Well,  it  was  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Granger's  who  told 
me ;  and  Mrs.  Granger  is  reported  to  have  said  she 
knew  that  Mrs.  Freeman  refused  because  of  her." 

"  I  know  better." 

"  Did  you  tell  Mrs.  Granger  the  real  reason  given 
by  Mrs.  Freeman  ?"  asked  Clark. 

"  I  haven't  seen  Mrs.  Granger  to  speak  to  since  day 
before  yesterday,"  was  the  curt  answer,  and  Blake's 
face  was  hidden  by  the  paper,  which  he  again  raised  as 
though  to  read. 

"  Well,  who  are  in  the  new  cast?"  persisted  Clark. 

"Mrs.  Turner  will  play  ' Esther,'  Dana  takes 
'D'Alroy/  Ross  of  the  infantry  '  Eccles/—- he's  tiptop 
too, — and  I'll  see  what  I  can  do  with  l  Hautree.' r' 

"Who'll  be  < Polly  Eccles'?" 

"  Mrs.  Granger." 

"  Mrs.  Granger  !  '  Polly  Eccles !'  Why,  I'd  as  soon 
think  of  Juno  playing  '  Audrey.7  Mrs.  Granger  that 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  169 

romping,  rollicking  hoyden  ?  Why,  man,  you  wouldn't 
dare  ask  her !" 

"All  the  same  she's  going  to  take  it." 

"Oh,  well,  all  right.  You're  manager,  and  I'm 
satisfied.  But  it  will  just  astonish  this  garrison  !"  And 
with  that  the  quartermaster  turned  away  and  sauntered 
over  to  the  pool-table,  where  some  of  the  youngsters 
were  trying  to  "stick"  old  Wilkins,  and  making  a 
failure  every  time. 

It  did  astonish  the  garrison.  That  night  at  the 
colonel's  table,  where  a  dozen  officers  and  ladies  were 
dining ;  at  the  houses  along  the  row  where  the  bach 
elors  happened  to  call ;  even  over  the  solemn  rubber 
of  whist  at  the  post-surgeon's,  the  principal  topic  of 
conversation  was  the  coming  play  and  Mrs.  Granger's 
surprising  acceptance  of  such  a  part  as  that  of  "  Polly 
Eccles."  All  manner  of  theories  were  advanced  in 
explanation.  Mrs.  Waldron  had  seen  it  played  by  the 
Rankins,  who  had  one  of  the  prettiest  women  in  the 
world  to  take  the  role  of  the  merry,  romping  sister,  and 
who  made  it  really  the  central  figure  of  the  drama; 
possibly  that  was  Mrs.  Granger's  idea.  Mrs.  Atherton, 
who  had  been  closely  studying  her  brilliant  neighbor 
of  the  depot,  was  inclined  to  the  belief  that  no  one  at 
f Russell  had  yet  begun  to  realize  her  versatile  powers, 
and  that  she  had  accepted  a  part  so  apparently  un 
worthy  in  order  to  give  Fort  Russell  a  genuine  sur 
prise.  Old  Stannard,  who  had  taken  a  decided  preju 
dice  against  the  lady,  blurted  out  that  his  idea  was 
that  she  would  take  any  part  that  would  keep  her 
coming  to  the  fort,  and  then,  as  was  invariably  the 
case  when  he  had  said  a  sharp  or  satirical  thing,  he 
H  15 


170  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

blushed  and  looked  as  though  he  wished  he  had  held 
his  tongue.  Mrs.  Turner  seemed  really  to  rejoice  in 
the  situation.  She  had  of  late  begun  to  conceive  it 
the  duty  of  some  one  in  the  — th  to  make  headway 
against  the  social  queendom  so  manifestly  held  by  Mrs. 
Granger  in  town  and  to  a  certain  extent  at  the  fort. 
There  was  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that,  without  the 
faintest  apparent  effort  on  that  lady's  part,  the  men  in 
stinctively  gathered  about  her  at  every  entertainment, 
and  it  was  gall  and  wormwood  to  Mrs.  Turner's  soul. 
She  was  a  woman  who  would  rather  have  had  it  said  of 
herself  that  wherever  she  went  the  men  thronged  to  do 
her  homage  than  that  the  blessings  of  the  fatherless 
and  the  widow  were  rained  upon  her  path.  She  was 
one  of  those  women  who,  having  this  desire,  resorted 
to  the  most  threadbare  expedients,  the  most  transparent, 
devices,  to  bring  men  to  her  side.  If  she  had  gathered 
one  or  two  about  her,  her  bright  eyes  roamed  restlessly 
around  in  search  of  more,  and  no  man  could  come 
within  hail  who  was  not  summoned  by  some  such  claim 
as,  "Don't  you  think  so,  Captain  Freeman?"  or,  "Til 
leave  it  to  you,  Mr.  Blake,"  or,  "  Here's  Mr.  Ray,  he 
can  tell  us."  And,  being  thus  summoned  by  name,  the 
would-be  passer-by  simply  had  to  stop  and  take  place 
for  a  moment  at  least  in  the  surrounding  circle.  It 
was  the  old,  old,  dreary  device,  yet  it  lives  perennial, 
and  the  user  little  dreams  how  thin,  how  pitifully 
thin,  'tis  worn.  But  now,  thought  Mrs.  Turner,  the 
time  had  come  to  down  her  rival.  Surely  the  interest 
of  the  play  would  centre  on  that  lovely,  lovelorn  hero 
ine,  and  romping  "  Polly"  would  be  nowhere.  She 
never  dreamed  the  real  truth, — indeed,  who  did?  It 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  171 

was  Madeleine  Granger  who  chose  the  play,  who 
named  the  cast,  who  bade  Mr.  Blake  tender  the  part 
of  "  Esther"  to  Mrs.  Turner. 

"  She  cannot  act,"  said  Blake. 

"  She  thinks  she  can,  Gerald,  and  she  will  jump  at 
the  chance,"  was  the  answer.  And  jump  she  did, 
quickly  as  ever  she  had  at  a  conclusion. 

And  so  during  the  week  rehearsals  were  going  on 
every  day ;  sometimes  at  the  depot,  sometimes  at  the 
post,  and  finally  at  the  barrack  theatre,  and  Blake 
came  no  more  to  Freeman's  quarters,  where  every  morn 
ing  sat  the  bonny  wife  reading  aloud  with  Nannie 
Bryan. 

The  play  was  to  be  given  on  Tuesday  night,  and 
Sunday  had  come.  All  day  long  the  cold  had  been 
intense.  The  keen  blast  from  the  northwest  towards 
sunset  died  away,  and  the  light  on  the  snow-clad  peaks 
to  the  south  and  the  tips  of  the  eastward  ridges  had 
been  simply  dazzling.  Now  in  the  frosty  gloaming 
the  lamps  began  to  twinkle  here  and  there  around  the 
big  parade,  and  such  men  as  had  to  appear  out  of  doors 
were  muffled  to  the  eyes  in  fur.  The  few  sentries 
tramped  briskly  up  and  down  their  "  guarded  land," 
stamping  in  their  big  buffalo  overshoes  and  thrashing 
their  fur  gauntlets  across  their  broad  chests. 

"  Relieve  them  every  hour,  Freeman,"  was  the  colo 
nel's  order  to  the  officer  of  the  day,  as  they  trudged 
up  from  the  never-neglected  stable  duties.  "And 
have  them  visited  frequently  to-night  lest  they  become 
benumbed  and  fall  asleep." 

Over  at  the  big  brown  hospital  the  thermometer  had 
registered  twenty  below  at  four  o'clock,  and  now  the 


172  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

mercury  was  slipping  down  out  of  sight,  and  the  spirit 
gauge  was  hung  outside  the  steward's  door.  At  nine 
o'clock  the  colonel's  orderly  went  running  around  from 
barrack  to  barrack  to  say  that  the  men  need  not  turn 
out  for  roll-call  at  tattoo,  and  at  9.30  that  call  was 
sounded  by  the  trumpeter  of  the  guard  alone.  All 
over  the  garrison  the  big  coal-stoves  were  glowing  like 
so  many  furnaces,  and  the  anthracite  gave  up  its  store 
of  warmth  and  comfort  to  scores  of  grateful  mortals 
huddling  about  them.  Women  and  children  were  no 
where  abroad  on  such  a  night,  and  only  a  few  among 
the  bachelors  ventured  around,  though  Sunday-evening 
calls  were  quite  a  feature  at  the  post,  and  many  a  time 
the  clans  gathered  about  Mrs.  Atherton's  piano,  and 
the  strains  of  Moody  and  Sankey  were  borne  to  many 
a  listening  ear.  But  this  night  it  seemed  too  cold  for 
all  but  the  most  determined  to  sally  forth,  and  down 
at  the  club-room,  around  the  red-hot  globe  of  glowing 
coals,  four  or  five  young  fellows  were  sipping  Muldoon's 
"hot  Scotch"  and  thanking  Providence  that  it  was  not 
their  tour  for  guard.  And  Blake  was  there  restlessly 
pacing  the  floor,  ever  and  anon  gazing  out  of  the  east 
window  and  steadfastly  declining  anything  to  drink. 

At  last  the  trumpet  sounded  the  first  call  for  tattoo, 
and  just  then  Blake  started  back  from  the  window, 
took  three  quick  steps  towards  the  east  door,  then,  as 
though  suddenly  recollecting  himself,  halted,  stopped 
an  instant  at  the  stove,  and  then  without  a  word  stalked 
away  towards  the  west  door. 

"  Where're  you  going,  Legs?  There's  no  roll-call," 
shouted  Clark. 

"  I  know  it,"  answered  Blake,  shortly. 


CAPTAIN  SLAKE.  173 

"  Going  home?  All  right.  Hold  on  ;  I'll  go  with 
you." 

"  But  I'm  not/'  said  Blake,  letting  himself  quickly 
out  into  the  storm-shed  and  banging  the  door  behind 
him. 

"  Well,  I'm  going  anyway,"  said  Clark,  with  a  laugh. 
"  Poor  old  Legs  !  What  a  Godsend  it  would  be  if  we 
were  only  ordered  back  to  Arizona — for  him.  Come 
on,  Royce !" 

No  one  cared  to  speak  of  Blake  just  then,  but  Clark 
and  Royce  followed  on  out  into  the  keen,  sparkling 
night.  A  cold  moon  was  hanging  low  in  the  west,  a 
mere  faint  crescent,  but  aloft  the  stars  fairly  blazed  in 
the  fathomless  vault  of  the  heavens.  It  was  light 
enough  to  see  all  moving  objects  along  the  parade,  the 
roadway  and  the  walk,  and  Blake  was  nowhere  ahead 
of  them.  Instinctively,  Clark  turned  as  they  reached 
the  road  and  glanced  back  towards  the  eastern  gate 
beyond  the  store.  A  tall,  soldierly  figure,  muffled  in 
great-coat  and  furs  stood  silently  there  gazing  away 
southeastward  across  the  bleak  prairie.  Blake,  then, 
had  taken  the  roundabout  way  to  reach  his  goal.  For 
an  instant  the  quartermaster  hesitated,  looking  wist 
fully  towards  the  shadowy  form.  Far  beyond  it  the 
dim  lights  of  the  distant  town  twinkled  across  the 
prairie.  More  to  the  southward  and  nearer  at  hand  a 
brighter  glow  came  from  the  westward  windows  of  the 
great  depot.  Those  two  that  seemed  nearest  and 
brightest  were  from  Granger's  quarters  ;  and  suddenly 
on  the  floor  above,  as  though  the  blinds  were  just 
thrown  open,  appeared  a  third,  forming  with  those 
below  a  nearly  equilateral  triangle.  Instantly  the 

15* 


174  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tall  figure  at  the  gate  turned  sharply  to  the  south  and 
rapidly  disappeared  behind  the  low  wooden  buildings 
and  in  the  direction  of  the  stables. 

Royce,  too,  had  halted,  as  though  he  desired  to  look 
back.  Clark  linked  arms  with  him  and  briefly  said, 
"  Come  on." 

It  was  nearly  eleven  o'clock  when  Billy  Ray  left  the 
Truscotts',  where  he  always  spent  his  Sunday  evenings, 
and  came  bustling  into  the  sitting-room  of  his  own  quar 
ters,  where  Hogan  had  a  glowing  fire  to  greet  him  ;  but 
Blake  was  missing.  It  was  midnight  when  the  front 
door  softly  opened,  was  closed  and  locked  from  the  in 
side  ;  and  Ray,  lying  snug  and  warm  in  his  nest  with 
a  certain  little  picture  clasped  tight  to  his  heart,  heard 
his  comrade  tiptoeing  up  the  stairs. 

"  He  doesn't  want  to  see  or  talk  with  me,"  sighed 
Ray  to  himself;  "  I  won't  worry  him  by  calling." 

It  was  just  after  midnight  when  the  officer  of  the 
day,  anxious  about  his  sentries  in  that  bitter  cold,  came 
striding  down  the  bluff,  and  was  promptly,  sharply 
challenged  by  the  muffled  trooper  who  stepped  forward 
from  the  shadows  of  the  stables. 

"Who  comes  there?" 

"  Officer  of  the  day." 

"  Advance,  officer  of  the  day,  with  the  countersign." 

Freeman  never  halted  until  the  muzzle  of  the  car 
bine  was  almost  at  his  breast. 

"  Winchester,"  he  muttered,  in  low  tone,  and  then, 
without  waiting  for  the  conventional  "Advance,  officer 
of  the  day,"  instantly  queried, — 

"  Are  you  all  right,  sentry  ? — Sure  you're  not  freez- 
ing?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  175 

"  I'm  all  right,  sir,"  was  the  cheery  answer.  "  I 
double  time  every  few  minutes." 

"  How  long  have  you  been  on  ?" 

"Since  11.30,  sir.77 

"  Everything  all  right  on  your  post?" 

"  All  right,  sir.  An  officer  rode  in  who  hadn't  the 
countersign,  but  I  recognized  and  passed  him." 

"  An  officer  !"  exclaimed  Freeman,  in  surprise.  "  On 
horseback  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir  :  Lieutenant  Blake." 

Captain  Freeman  suddenly  ceased  his  questions, 
turned  back  and  tramped  up  the  line  until  he  came  to 
the  door  of  his  troop  stables.  Here  he  pressed  the 
latch  and  pushed  up  a  little  trap  in  the  main  gate,  and, 
bowing  low  and  stepping  high,  he  let  himself  in  and 
stood  erect  once  more  in  the  long,  dimly-lighted  gang 
way  between  the  stalls.  There  he  found  his  stable 
sergeant  and  orderly  briskly  rubbing  down  a  steam 
ing  horse  that  had  evidently  been  ridden  hard  and 
fast.  He  knew  Blake's  charger  at  a  glance,  and  his 
face  was  full  of  glot>m  as  he  stepped  slowly  forward. 
The  men  stood  erect  an  instant  and  saluted  as  they 
recognized  their  captain,  then  resumed  their  work. 

"  Sergeant  Jamieson,  did  you  not  know  it  was  against 
the  colonel's  orders  that  any  government  horse  should 
be  taken  out  after  taps  without  his  permission  or  that 
of  the  officer  of  the  day.  You  certainly  knew  that 
this  was  not  Lieutenant  Blake's  private  property?" 

"Certainly,  sir,"  answered  the  English  sergeant, 
again  standing  erect.  "But  the  lieutenant  went  out 
before  taps.  He  sent  Hogan  down  soon  after  eight  to 
say  he  might  need  his  horse  and  to  keep  him  saddled 


176  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  ready.  Mr.  Blake  came  hurrying  down  about 
tattoo,  and  when  he  got  back  the  horse  looked  as  though 
he  had  run  several  miles." 

Freeman  said  nothing  more.  He  paced  slowly  down 
the  dim  corridor,  as  though  glancing  at  the  fastenings 
of  the  horses,  and  seeing  that  the  halter-straps  were 
neither  so  long  that  the  animal  could  back  out  or  en 
tangle  himself,  or  so  short  as  to  prevent  his  lying  down 
with  comfort.  Most  of  the  horses  were  already  deep 
in  their  thick  beds  of  clean  fresh  straw,  and  some 
of  them  slowly  lifted  their  heads  and  gazed  at  him 
with  sleepy  eyes ;  others  were  still  on  their  feet,  but 
drowsy  and  torpid.  The  captain  looked  about  with 
pride  and  satisfaction  at  the  evidences  of  care  on  every 
hand. 

"  That  ex-hussar  is  a  jewel  of  a  stable  sergeant,"  he 
thought  to  himself,  "  if  he  was  a  deserter,  as  the  men 
say.  Odd  !"  he  continued  his  train  of  thought,  a  grim 
smile  curling  the  lips  under  that  heavy  moustache. 
"  'Twas  a  woman  who  drove  him  out  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales's  '  cherry  pants'  and  into  our  sky-blue  and  mus 
tard.  The  women  are  the  best  recruiting  officers  we 
have  after  all.  They  send  a  thousand  men  into  the 
army  every  year,  and  occasionally  square  matters  by 
driving  a  fellow  out  of  it.  Who'll  be  the  next  in  the 
— th  to  go,  I  wonder  ?" 

Once  again  the  sharp,  clear  challenge  of  the  sentry 
rang  out  on  the  cold  night  air.  The  answer  was  in 
audible.  "  Advance  and  be  recognized,"  was  the  sen 
try's  order ;  and  then  the  little  trap-door  was  suddenly 
pushed  open,  a  fur-covered  head  and  body  came  thrust 
ing  through  the  gap  and  shooting  up  to  a  height  of  six 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  177 

feet,  and  the  pale,  anxious  face  of  Lieutenant  Blake 
was  revealed  in  the  dim  light  of  the  stable  lanterns. 

"  Sergeant  Jamieson,  I've  dropped  some  letters  from 
my  overcoat-pocket ;  have  you  seen  anything  of  them  ?" 

"  Not  a  sign,  sir,"  said  the  sergeant,  in  his  prompt, 
soldierly  way,  as  he  stood  erect  and  raised  his  hand  in 
salute.  "  Where  does  the  lieutenant  think  he  dropped 
them?  Here,  Murphy,  go  you  and  search  with  the 
lieutenant.  I'll  put  up  the  horse."  And  as  the  ser 
geant  led  the  tired  bay  to  his  stall,  Blake's  face  turned 
a  shade  whiter,  and  there  was  unmistakable  start  and 
agitation,  for  there  stood  the  officer  of  the  day,  the  man 
of  all  others  in  the  — th  who  had  known  him  longest, 
been  his  stanchest  friend,  and  from  whom  of  late  he 
had  drifted  almost  helplessly  away.  For  an  instant 
no  word  was  spoken.  The  two  men  stood  there  in 
silence  looking  at  each  other,  then  Freeman  held  out 
his  hand. 

"What  is  wrong,  Blake,  old  man?  Can't  I  help 
you?" 

With  something  almost  like  a  sob,  Blake  turned 
sharply  away. 

"  Nobody  can  help  me,  Freeman.  My  God ! — 
nobody." 


178  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

"  CASTE"  was  to  be  given  Tuesday  night.  Monday 
evening  there  was  a  dress  rehearsal  and  a  modified  sen 
sation.  It  was  still  sharply  cold,  and  Blake  had  been 
at  his  wits'  end,  apparently,  striving  all  day  long  to 
warm  that  barn-like  structure  in  which  the  entertain 
ments  of  the  garrison,  social  and  dramatic,  were  gener 
ally  given.  He  had  moved  two  more  stoves  into  the 
old  barracks,  a  feat  which,  on  account  of  the  narrow 
ness  of  the  doors,  gave  no  little  trouble,  and  punched 
two  additional  stovepipe-holes  in  the  roof,  a  feat  which 
gave  no  trouble  at  all ;  and  with  four  fires  consuming 
anthracite  at  a  ruinous  rate  it  was  to  be  supposed  that 
any  ordinary  building  would  be  reasonably  warm. 
Nevertheless  "  Polly  Eccles"  begged  to  be  excused  from 
removing  either  her  sealskin  wrap  or  the  "  toque"  with 
its  coquettish  and  most  becoming  adornment.  She 
wore  her  collar  turned  up  about  the  throat,  too,  which 
was  unusual  for  Mrs.  Granger,  whose  throat  was  round 
and  white  and  blue-veined  and  beautiful,  and  the 
lackadaisical,  lovelorn  "  Esther,"  impersonated  by  Mrs. 
Turner,  was  observed  to  be  in  a  state  of  remarkable 
excitement,  both  on  and  off  the  stage.  She  forgot  her 
part,  needed  incessant  promptings  both  as  to  cues,  lines, 
and  "  business,"  and  Blake  was  savagely  sarcastic  on 
more  than  one  occasion.  Something  in  Mrs.  Granger's 
appearance  seemed  to  positively  fascinate  her  volatile 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  179 

friend  and  fellow-actress,  for  the  latter's  bright,  lus 
trous  eyes  followed  her  every  movement.  Still,  the 
rehearsal  went  off  rather  well  in  other  respects,  Blake's 
haw-haw,  heavy  swell  manner  as  "  Hautree"  keeping 
everybody  in  a  titter,  however,  and  evoking  loud  ap 
plause  from  the  audience,  which  consisted  of  Major 
Granger,  just  back  from  Omaha,  and  Captain  Turner, 
who,  for  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  had  decided  to 
go  with  his  wife,  and  who  managed  to  keep  close  to 
her  side  whenever  she  was  not  actually  on  the  stage. 
Granger  was  looking  rather  more  sallow  and  dyspeptic 
than  ever,  and  seemed  singularly  nervous  and  irritable. 
Twice,  thrice,  the  exits  of  "  Polly"  or  "  Hautree"  brought 
these  two  artists  into  the  wings  on  the  same  side,  and 
at  such  moments  the  manager  seemed  to  lose  sight  and 
hearing  of  the  play,  for  errors  went  by  unremarked,  so 
far  as  he  was  concerned,  and  Ross  and  Dana  had  to 
correct  and  counsel.  At  last  the  rehearsal  was  over. 
Mrs.  Turner  insisted  on  everybody's  coming  across  the 
parade  to  her  house  for  a  cup  of  hot  coffee  or  bouillon. 
A  messenger  was  sent  to  the  stables  for  the  Grangers7 
carriage,  which,  with  blanketed  horses,  had  been  stand 
ing  in  the  stables  of  Freeman's  troop  meantime ;  and 
when  it  was  heard  at  the  Turners'  gate,  Mrs.  Turner 
became  all  eagerness  and  hospitality. 

u  Now,  Mrs.  Granger,  I  know  Grimsby  must  be 
half  frozen  ;  do  let  him  come  right  into  the  hall  and 
have  some  bouillon  or  coffee  before  you  start.  Our 
man  will  stand  at  the  horses'  heads." 

But  Mrs.  Granger  would  not  listen  to  it;  neither 
would  the  major.  They  must  return  at  once,  they  pro 
tested.  Even  in  the  parlor  Mrs.  Granger  declined  to 


180  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

remove  her  cloak  :  the  carriage,  she  said,  would  come 
instantly.  And,  indeed,  they  had  barely  reached  the 
house  before  its  wheels  were  heard,  and  she  had  hardly 
time  to  sip  her  cup  of  coffee.  Granger  hastily  led  her 
forth,  and  almost  sharply  ordered  every  one  else  not  to 
venture  out  into  the  cold  night  air.  She  was  not  even 
seated  in  the  landau  when  he  shouted  to  the  driver, 
"  Go  on  !"  And  off  went  the  spirited  team.  Granger 
springing  to  his  wife's  side  as  they  whirled  away. 

No  sooner  were  her  guests  departed  to  their  various 
homes  than  Mrs.  Turner  dropped  on  the  sofa  in  a  state 
of  apparent  collapse,  and  the  captain  anxiously  inquired 
what  was  wrong. 

"  I  declare  I  don't  know.  I'm  utterly  used  up  and 
unstrung.  Have  we  any  champagne  in  the  house  ?  I 
just  long  for  a  glass." 

"  We  have  none  here,  Fan,  but  I'll  trot  right  down 
to  the  club  and  fetch  some,"  promptly  answered  the 
captain,  ever  eager  to  humor  the  fancies  of  his  pretty 
helpmeet. 

"  Oh,  I  hate  to  have  you  go  out, — way  down  there 
in  the  cold,  and  yet  I  do  so  long  for  a  little  Roederer, 
— just  a  glass." 

"You  shall  have  it  in  three  minutes,  dear,"  said 
Turner,  already  struggling  into  his  big  overcoat.  Then 
out  he  darted  into  the  starry  night.  No  sooner  was 
he  across  the  piazza  than  she  sprang  from  the  sofa, 
fluttered  through  the  dining-room  and  out  into  the 
kitchen,  where  voices  and  laughter  had  been  audible 
for  some  time. 

"  Mina,  you  told  me  Grimsby  was  dismissed,  and  he 
was  here  to-night." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  181 

"No'twasu't,  Miss  Turner;  that  wasn't  Grimsby; 
that  was  one  of  the  depot  men  dressed  up  in  Grimsby 's 
things.  He'll  never  work  for  the  Grangers  any  more. 
Maybe  you  don't  believe  what  I  told  you,  but  it's  true. 
You  ask  Annie;  you  ask  Sergeant  Jamieson  if  that 
was  Grimsby  that  drove  to-night." 

"  You  said  Annie  heard  all  the  trouble  last  night, 
every  bit  of  it  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Turner. 

"  She  couldn't  help  hearing  it  !  Grimsby  was  drunk 
and  just  shouting.  Mr.  Blake, — he  didn't  talk  loud, 
but  she  could  hear  him  all  the  same.  The  major  was 
the  maddest  man  when  he  got  there,  I  tell  you, — 
Annie  says  you  could  have  heard  him  all  over  the 
prairie,  and  it's  a  wonder  Mr.  Blake  didn't  hear  her 
and  come  back  when  he  tried  to  choke  her.  Annie 
says  it's  going  to  be  a  mighty  sight  of  trouble,  for  when 
Grimsby  came  for  his  breakfast  this  morning  he  just 
swore  he'd  be  even  with  the  Grangers,  both  of  them ; 
that  he  could  tell  things  that  would  bring  them  both 
down,  and  he'd  do  it,  too.  He  came  up  to  the  post 
this  afternoon  and  wanted  to  see  Lieutenant  Blake, 
and  Blake " 

"Mr.  Blake,  Mina,"  said  Mrs.  Turner,  primly. 
"You  shouldn't  speak  of  gentlemen  without  giving 
them  their  titles." 

"  Well,  when  he  cuts  up  this  way  with  Mrs.  Granger 
I  don't  see  no  use  for  being  so  mighty  polite, — and  the 
lieutenant  sent  Hogan  down  to  tell  him  to  clear  out 
and  never  show  his  face  at  the  fort  again  without  his 
permission ;  and  he  just  went  by  here  swearing  mad. 
I  heard  him.  He  went  out  to  Bryan's  ranch.  He 
didn't  go  back  to  the  depot  neither.  He  stopped  down 

16 


182  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

at  the  stables  and  had  a  long  talk  with  that  English 
Sergeant  Jamieson.  Corporal  Murphy  told  Mrs.  Fin- 
nigan, — her  that's  laundress  for  '  L'  troop, — and  she 
told  me.  And  Annie  says  you  can  see  the  black  marks 
on  Mrs.  Granger's  throat  this  morning  just  as  plain  as 
daylight." 

"  But  how  did  Mr.  Blake  happen  to  be  there  such  a 
night?  I  don't  understand,"  queried  Mrs.  Turner,  her 
eyes,  mouth,  and  ears  all  open. 

"  She  sent  for  him.  Annie  says  that's  what  the  row 
was  about.  Mr.  Blake  hadn't  been  there  for  two  days, 
and  when  he  didn't  come  yesterday  morning  she  sent 
Grimsby  up  with  a  note,  and  he  swore  it  was  an  out 
rage  to  send  him  up  in  such  awful  weather.  And  he 
began  drinking  when  he  got  back, — said  he  was  frozen, 
— and  so  when  she  ordered  him  to  hitch  up  at  nine 
o'clock  and  drive  to  the  railway  depot  to  meet  Major 
Granger  he  was  drunk,  and  swore  he  wouldn't,  and 
dared  her  to  discharge  him.  Oh,  he  said  awful  things ; 
Annie  heard  him,  and  she  ran  up-stairs — Mrs.  Granger 
did — with  a  big  lamp  from  the  parlor,  and  Grimsby 
stumbled  off  to  the  store,  and  the  next  thing  Mr. 
Blake  came  tearing  down  on  horseback.  She  cried,  and 
he  went  off  to  find  Grimsby,  but  could  not,  and  was 
gone  a  good  while,  and  came  and  told  her  Grimsby  was 
neither  anywhere  about  the  depot  nor  any  drinking-bar 
near  it ;  he  must  have  gone  to  town  and  he'd  got  to 
follow  him;  and  just  as  he  was  going  out  the  major 
came  in.  He'd  got  a  carriage  in  town  somewhere. 

He  was  looking  blacker  than Oh,  Annie  said  it  was 

awful.  She  went  in  just  then  with  a  hod  of  coal,  and 
he  ordered  her  out,  and  stamped  and  swore,  and  Mrs. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  183 

Granger  laughed  at  first,  and  then  he  grabbed  her, — 
Annie  saw  him, — and  Mrs.  Granger  screamed  and  ran 
to  her  room  and  locked  the  door.  Annie  says  he  just 
stood  outside  and  begged  and  cried  half  the  night. 
Of  course  Mr.  Blake, — he'd  gone  away  the  moment 
after  the  major  came.  Annie  says  that  it  was  long 
after  twelve  o'clock  before  he  left  that  door,  where  he 
was  begging  and  imploring  her  to  forgive  him  and  let 
him  in " 

But  here  Miss  Mina  came  to  an  abrupt  stop,  crest 
fallen  and  dismayed.  The  dining-room  door  had  sud 
denly  opened,  and  Mrs.  Turner,  recalled  from  the 
thrilling  interest  of  this  tale  to  a  contemplation  of  her 
own  surroundings,  found  herself  confronted  by  the  sad, 
reproachful  face  of  her  husband. 

"  Here  is  your  Roederer,  Fan/7  he  said,  quietly,  but 
with  a  choke  in  his  voice.  "  It  needs  no  ice. — Mina, 
you  should  be  at  home  at  this  hour.  Oblige  me  by 
going  at  once  and — never  setting  foot  under  my  roof 
again." 

When  a  moment  later  he  closed  the  dining-room 
door,  after  seeing  his  wife  safely  through,  Captain 
Turner  took  her  hand  and  led  her  into  the  parlor. 

"  Fanny/'  he  said,  "  you  had  heard  this  story  before 
to-night.  It  had  been  told  you  before  you  went  to  re 
hearsal,  for  I  heard  that  girl's  voice  in  the  kitchen. 
You  knew  that  the  Grangers  had  discharged  Grimsby 
when  you  urged  her  to  let  him  come  in  and  get  warm, 
did  you  not?" 

For  all  answer  she  threw  herself  upon  the  lounge, 
and,  bursting  into  tears,  rocked  to  and  fro  in  an  ecstasy 
of  melodramatic  grief.  For  several  minutes  she  could 


184  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

not  speak,  and  he  stood  sadly  before  her  looking  upon 
her  with  eyes  in  which  no  sign  of  anger  lived,  nothing 
but  pity  and  infinite  sorrow.  At  last  through  her  sobs 
and  tears  she  cried, — 

"  I  declare,  Captain  Turner,  it  is  simply  heartless, — 
monstrous  in  you  to  shame  me  so  before  the  servants." 
And  Turner  without  another  word  slowly  left  the 
room,  and  once  again  walked  forth  into  the  bitter  night. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'clock.  The  air  was  crisp,  keen, 
and  still.  The  crescent  moon  was  hanging  over  the 
snow-covered  summits  far  to  the  west,  where  ran  the 
ridge-line  of  the  Ilockies.  The  stars  were  gleaming 
in  the  heavens,  and,  just  as  on  the  previous  evening, 
the  lights  of  the  distant  town  twinkled  across  the  three- 
mile  stretch  of  prairie ;  but  all  was  darkness  at  the 
great  depot  midway  between.  Turner  looked  irreso 
lutely  up  the  row.  A  little  party,  merry  and  joyous, 
came  laughing  out  into  the  frosty  night  air  from  the 
colonel's  quarters,  and  half  a  dozen  couples  were  pres 
ently  walking  briskly  towards  him.  He  heard  Ray's 
ringing  voice,  so  full  of  life  and  hope  and  gladness, 
mingling  with  the  silvery  tones  of  some  of  the  ladies. 
He  heard  Staunard  guffawing  over  some  joke  which 
had  been  perpetrated  at  Hollis's  expense,  and  as  they 
drew  nearer  Mrs.  Truscott  queried, — 

"  And  where  is  Mr.  Hollis  now  ? — and  isn't  it  time 
we  heard  from  him  again  ?" 

Turner  was  in  no  mood  to  meet  so  gay  a  party. 
After  one  moment  of  hesitation  he  faced  eastward,  and 
lo !  up  the  walk  from  the  store  came  a  quartette  of 
jovial  bachelors, — "  the  boys"  who  had  been  down  for 
a  nightcap  of  Muldoon's  hot-Scotch,  and  were  now 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  185 

homeward  bound.  He  cared  as  little  to  meet  them, 
and  so  retracing  his  steps  to  his  own  door,  there,  too, 
he  halted.  What  awaited  him  at  his  fireside  but  tears, 
reproaches,  wretchedness?  It  was  useless  to  attempt 
to  reason  with  her  •  to  point  out  the  shame  and  un- 
worthiness  of  her  conduct;  to  plead  with  her  to  give 
ear  to  his  advice  and  counsel,  or  to  lay  upon  her  his 
commands.  She  would  only  weep  and  moan  and  la 
ment  the  cruelty  of  her  fate,  the  bitterness  of  her  life, 
all  misjudged,  misunderstood,  miserable,  as  she  declared 
it  to  be.  No,  he  turned  quickly  and  walked  on  the 
creaking  boards,  snapping  with  the  cold  under  his  feet, 
around  by  the  side  of  his  little  army  home,  and  so,  out 
upon  the  frozen,  turfless  soil  of  the  unsightly  back 
yard.  The  rear  gate  stood  open,  and  while  he  himself 
was  yet  in  the  shadow  of  his  quarters  he  saw  a  muffled 
form  pass  quickly  across  the  gap, — some  one  going  along 
the  line  of  fence  that  separated  the  back  yards  from 
the  prairie,  and  some  one  who  was  closely  hugging  that 
fence  as  though  desirous  of  being  seen  by  none.  It 
was  not  a  sentry,  for  the  colonel  had  ordered  the  dis 
continuance  of  the  post  in  the  rear  of  the  officers'  row 
in  such  bitter  weather.  It  did  not  look  like  a  soldier 
at  all.  There  was  still  a  light  burning  in  his  kitchen, 
where  the  cook  was  now  finishing  the  labors  which 
had  been  discontinued  during  Mina's  entertaining  visit. 
There  was  the  hole  in  the  fence  through  which  that 
voluble  young  woman  was  wont  to  make  her  way. 
He  remembered  afterwards  that,  as  he  strode  quickly  by, 
he  resolved  to  have  it  boarded  up  on  the  morrow ;  but 
now  he  wished  to  see  who  this  night-prowler  could  be. 
Nothing  of  the  kind  had  been  heard  of  since  the  pre- 

16* 


186  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

vious  summer,  when  there  was  for  a  week  or  so  a  deli 
cious  mystery, — a  serenader.  A  man  who  would  go 
prowling  along  the  back  fence  a  night  like  this  must 
needs  have  powerful  incentive.  No  soldiers,  not  even 
the  bandsman,  would  have  any  excuse  for  coming  that 
way,  and  whoever  it  was  there  was  something  stealthy 
and  furtive  about  his  movements.  Turner  was  un 
armed,  but  that  made  no  difference  to  him.  A  few  of 
his  long  strides  brought  him  to  the  gate,  and  there  he 
could  dimly  see  the  line  of  fence  for  full  a  hundred 
yards  either  way.  Not  a  living  being  was  in  sight. 
There  was  but  one  explanation, — he  had  turned  in  at  a 
near  gate-way.  Could  it  after  all  have  been  some  one 
of  the  officers'  "  strikers"  who  slept  in  some  little  nook 
or  corner  under  his  superior's  roof?  Was  it  that  Irish 
scamp,  Hogan  ?  No ;  neither  in  garb  nor  gait  was 
there  anything  of  the  soldier  about  this  fellow.  Turn 
ing  eastward,  the  captain  stepped  quickly  along,  entered 
the  next  gate  and  peered  keenly  about  him.  The  doors 
of  the  various  sheds  were  closed.  No  one  was  there ; 
neither  was  there  in  the  next.  It  was  at  the  third 
yard  that  he  stopped  short.  There  were  voices  in  low, 
excited  conversation  across  the  fence,  in  the  yard  of  the 
quarters  occupied  by  Ray  and  Blake,  and,  beyond  all 
peradventure,  one  of  those  voices  was  Blake's  own. 
And  now  the  other  began,  a  whining,  querulous  plea 
in  unmistakably  cockney  accent. 

"  Hannythink,  capting,  hannythink  you  may  say 
will  'elp  me.  Don't  let  a  poor  devil  be  turned  hout  in 
the  cold  without  a  shilling." 

"  Be  silent !"  interrupted  the  other  voice, — Blake's, — 
as  Turner  whirled  impatiently  away,  unwilling  to  hear 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  187 

another  word  of  colloquy.  "  You  have  threatened, 
bullied,  lied,  blackmailed."  Turner  could  not  but 
hear  that  much  as  he  hurried  away.  A  quick  turn  to 
the  left  carried  him  beyond  ear-shot  of  further  talk  in 
that  yard ;  but  not  of  what  followed.  He  had  gone 
not  a  dozen  steps  when  the  thud  of  blows,  the  rasp  of 
scuffling  feet  upon  the  icy  ground  caught  his  ear;  and 
as  he  hastened  back  one  dark  form  came  reeling  out  of 
the  gate,  another  followed,  lunging  viciously.  The 
second  it  was  that  slipped  and  fell,  and  the  first  was 
upon  the  other  in  an  instant.  As  Turner  leaped  to  the 
spot  a  knife  gleamed  in  the  moonlight.  With  sinewy 
hand  the  captain  seized  the  cockney  by  the  coat-collar, 
and,  hurling  him  back,  dealt  him  one  fierce  blow  that 
sent  him  sprawling  to  earth.  Blake  was  up  in  an  in 
stant,  breathless,  but  unharmed. 

"  Don't  hurt  him,  Turner.  That's  enough.  My 
God!"  he  gasped,  "you  got  here  just  in  time.  Get 
up,  you  hound !"  And  he  gave  one  contemptuous 
kick  at  his  fallen  adversary.  "Get  up!  Never  mind 
looking  for  your  knife,  sir;  I'll  take  care  of  that. 
And  now,  unless  you  want  to  be  lodged  in  jail  with 
the  charge  of  attempted  murder  over  your  head,  unless 
you  want  to  be  lynched  by  the  Irishmen  in  this  post, 
put  a  hundred  miles  between  yourself  and  Cheyenne 
inside  of  twelve  hours,  and  never  let  us  hear  from  you 
again.  Here,  you  cur,  take  that  and  go!"  And  as 
he  spoke,  Blake  flung  a  little  wad  of  bills  into  the  face 
of  the  still  bewildered  coachman,  who  slowly  found 
his  feet,  and,  merely  pausing  one  moment  to  shake  a 
clinched  fist  and  mutter  one  savage  curse,  the  half- 
drunken  fellow  went  slouching  away. 


188  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Then  Blake  and  Turner  confronted  each  other.  The 
face  of  the  former  pale,  haggard,  careworn ;  that  of 
the  latter  unutterably  sad. 

"  What  business  has  that — that  man  going  in  that 
direction,  Blake  ?  He  should  be  off  to  town." 

"  He  has  a  buckboard  outside  the  band-quarters, 
captain,  and  a  man  from  Bryan's  ranch.  That  is 
where  he  says  he  came  from.  It  seems  he  had  some 
business  with  Bryan  this  evening,  and  there's  where 
he  got  his  liquor." 

"How  happens  it  he  came  here  to  your  quarters, 
and  you  meet  him  ?  Blake,  do  you  begin  to  know 
how  people  are  talking? — how  you  are  harming  your 
self  and— her?" 

Against  the  rough  old  board  fence  Blake  leaned 
wearily.  He  drew  the  sleeve  of  his  heavy  coat  across 
his  eyes,  hiding  his  face,  and  for  a  moment  made  no 
reply.  At  last  the  arm  dropped  suddenly. 

"Turner,"  said  Blake,  striding  forward  until  he 
stood  face  to  face  with  the  captain,  "  I  know  you  so 
well  that  I  need  not  ask  you  to  keep  my  confidence. 
I  know  nothing  of  what  they  say,  but  can  conjecture. 
I  know  this,  that  I  am  in  hell,  and  that  one  way  or 
another  this  thing  ends  to-morrow  night." 

With  that  he  turned  sharply  away,  and  the  captain, 
still  standing  in  the  cold  and  darkness,  heard  him  kick 
in  the  warped  and  ill-fitting  door  that  resisted  for  the 
instant  his  entrance  to  his  lonely  quarters. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  189 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

TUESDAY  evening — the  long-expected  Tuesday — 
had  come,  and  the  post  theatre  was  crowded.  Imme 
diately  in  front  of  the  little  stage  with  its  flaring  foot 
lights  the  orchestra  of  the  — th  was  seated.  Then  on 
camp-stools  and  low  chairs  the  officers'  children  were 
chatting  together,  eager,  excited,  and  full  of  joyous  antici 
pation.  Proud  mammas  or  attentive  nurse-maids  were 
close  behind  their  respective  broods,  the  former  now 
bending  forward  to  restrain  the  impetuosity  of  some 
vigorous  young  soldier  or  to  check  the  too  voluble 
tongue  of  the  dainty  fairy,  "  the  image  of  her  mother," 
then  leaning  back  and  looking  over  their  shoulders  to 
exchange  confidences  with  garrison  friends  in  the  row 
in  rear,  where  were  seated  mammas  whose  children 
were  big  enough  to  take  care  of  themselves  or  so  tender 
in  years  as  to  have  no  interest  in  the  momentous  pro 
ceedings  of  the  evening.  Here  and  there  among  the 
dames  and  damsels  were  scattered  the  officers  of  the 
post  and  masculine  visitors  from  the  neighborhood. 
Cheyenne  had  sent  a  large  contingent  of  its  6lite,  and 
j  Mrs.  Morris  and  her  coterie  were  provided  with  floral 
offerings  presumably  for  the  benefit  of  their  social 
idol,  Mrs.  Granger.  For,  though  she  did  not  know 
it, — as  is  the  case  with  most  of  us, — pretty  Mrs. 
Turner  had  no  real  conception  of  the  opinion  enter- 


190  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tained  of  her  by  a  large  section  of  local  society  ;  and 
it  was  not  likely  that  the  roses  and  carnations  peeping 
from  Mrs.  Morris's  lap,  the  product  of  her  own  con 
servatory,  could  be  intended  for  any  one  so  distinctly, 
though  unwittingly,  unpopular  as  the  self-supposed 
heroine  of  the  play.  Seven  or  eight  rows  of  chairs 
extending,  except  for  narrow  aisles  on  each  side,  en 
tirely  across  the  hall  were  thus  occupied  by  the  fami 
lies  of  the  officers  and  their  friends.  Then  came  a 
row  made  up  of  such  unsocial  creatures  as  Crane, 
Carroll,  Wilkins,  some  of  the  quartermasters  and  com 
missary  clerks,  and  other  depot  employe's.  Then  row 
upon  row  of  benches,  somewhat  raised  above  the  level 
in  front,  and  here  swarmed  the  wives  and  children  of 
the  non-commissioned  officers ;  and  then  the  entire 
lower  end  of  the  hall  was  crowded  by  the  troopers  and 
infantrymen,  keen  critics  and  yet  warm  partisans ;  for, 
as  was  well  known,  there  were  probably  a  dozen  among 
their  number  who  could  "  give  points"  over  and  over 
again  to  any  dramatically-inclined  mortal  among  the 
shoulder-straps.  The  management  had  carefully  taken 
up  the  canvas  covering  of  the  floor  so  that  the  spotless 
dancing-surface  should  not  suffer.  The  flag-draped 
partitions  that  had  divided  off  the  lower  end  of  the 
room  at  the  time  of  the  ladies'  german  were  all  now 
removed,  and  every  available  foot  of  space  in  rear  of 
the  entrance  doors  was  solidly  packed  by  the  boys  in 
blue.  The  orchestra  had  already  played  the  overture  to 
Massaniello  and  received  its  round  of  applause,  and  the 
leader  kept  glancing  eagerly  towards  the  hand-worn  edge 
of  the  drop-curtain  at  the  prompter's  side,  expectant 
of  the  signal  to  start  the  music  which  was  to  usher  in 


CAPTAIN  SLAKE.  101 

act  first  of  Robertson's  famous  comedy.  But,  though 
a  hand  appeared  for  an  instant,  it  was  hastily  with 
drawn.  There  was  evident  cause  for  delay,  and  once 
more  the  children,  who  had  been  hushed  in  expectation, 
began  their  tittering  chat. 

"  Two  to  one  they're  waiting  for  Mrs.  Turner/' 
whispered  Stannard  to  Mrs.  Atherton.  "She  never 
was  known  to  be  ready  on  time." 

The  colonel,  sitting  on  the  other  side  of  his  wife 
and  talking  at  the  moment  with  the  Waldrons,  glanced 
at  his  play-bill  and  then  at  his  watch.  u  Fifteen  min 
utes  late  now,"  he  said  ;  then  looked  over  his  shoulder 
to  where  Granger  sat,  gaunt  and  spectacled,  trying  to 
entertain  Mrs.  Gregg, — who  couldn't  bear  him. 

"  You  were  behind  the  scenes  ten  minutes  ago, 
major ;  wasn't  everything  apparently  ready  then  ?" 
asked  Atherton. 

"  Apparently,  yes,  sir.  Mrs.  Granger  was  all  ready 
an  hour  ago.  The  other  ladies  seemed  all  ready  too." 

Over  at  the  end  of  their  row  Captain  Turner  was 
seated  chatting  in  low  tone  with  Freeman,  whose  bonny 
wife,  with  her  olive-branches  and  Nannie  Bryan,  oc 
cupied  chairs  almost  in  the  middle  of  the  second  row. 
Every  one  was  remarking  the  change  that  had  been 
effected  in  "Prairie  Nan's"  appearance  since  Mrs. 
Freeman  had  begun  to  take  such  an  interest  in  her, 
and  to-night  the  child  was  positively  pretty.  Her 
great  tumbling  tresses  had  been  gathered  up  upon  her 
head  and  fastened  there  with  something  like  the  snood 
of  the  Highland  maidens ;  her  rounded  cheeks  were 
softly  flushed,  her  big  eyes  sparkled  with  animation 
and  interest,  and  her  gown  was  the  most  becoming 


192  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

thing  she  had  ever  been  known  to  wear ;  it  was  entirely 
new  and  unquestionably  of  Mrs.  Freeman's  designing ; 
and  unquestionably,  too,  that  sweet-faced  little  woman 
was  proud  of  her  protegee  and  rejoiced  when  she  was 
noticed  and  spoken  to,  as  happened  time  and  again. 
Even  at  this  moment  Mrs.  Truscott  was  bending  for 
ward  to  say  something  which  heightened  the  flush  of 
pleasure  on  the  young  girl's  cheek,  and  Mr.  Ray,  who 
was  Mrs.  Truscott's  escort, — Jack  being  temporarily  de 
tained  as  officer  of  the  day, — nodded  smiling  approval, 
saying,— 

"  You  look  almost  as  stunning  as  you  do  in  the  sad 
dle,  Nan.  Nobody  can  beat  you  there."  And  this, 
coming  from  such  authority,  seemed  to  fill  her  cup  of 
bliss  to  the  brim. 

It  was  fully  twenty  minutes  after  eight.  The  or 
chestra  was  playing  a  second  overture,  in  obedience  to 
signals  from  the  stage,  when  Captain  Truscott,  holding 
his  sabre  in  his  hand  so  as  to  prevent  its  clanking, 
made  his  way  quietly  up  the  side  aisle,  and  found  a 
chair  reserved  for  him  next  that  of  his  wife.  She 
looked  up  into  his  face  with  the  loving  welcome  of  her 
expressive  eyes,  and  saw  instantly  that  something  out 
of  the  common  had  happened. 

"Anything  wrong,  Jack?"  she  whispered,  nestling 
her  hand  into  his,  as  he  removed  his  glove. 

"  Nothing  of  consequence,  dear ;  a  little  trouble 
among  some  of  the  drivers  from  town.  Haven't  they 
begun  yet?" 

"No;  there's  some  delay.  It  will  be  eleven  and 
later  before  they  finish,  will  it  not?" 

"  Yes.     Blake  said  it   took  over  two  hours  and  a 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  193 

half  at  least,  and  that,  with  their  inexperience,  it  would 
take  much  more." 

But  here  the  orchestra  suddenly  ceased  ;  there  was 
an  instant  of  whirling  over  the  leaves  of  music,  and 
then,  with  a  flourish  of  his  bow,  the  leader  signalled, 
and  up  went  the  curtain  to  an  accompaniment  of  a 
merry,  tuneful  air.  Up  it  went  a  few  feet  at  least, 
then  there  was  a  balk.  One  side  hoisted  higher  than 
the  other,  and  the  painted  town  of  "  Irun  on  the  Bi- 
dassoa"  began  to  roll  up  askew,  whereat  there  was  a 
titter  which  increased  to  a  general  laugh  as  Mr.  Wil- 
kins  was  heard  to  call  out,  "Steady  there!  Dress 
to  the  left,"  and  then  to  a  shout  of  merriment  as 
"  the  Honorable  George  D'Alroy"  briskly  entered  D. 
R.  2  E.  only  to  find  the  curtain  descending  for  a 
straightening  out,  whereat  he  whirled  about  and  came 
into  violent  collision  with  a  tall  eye-glassed  swell,  just 
appearing  at  the  same  door.  When,  after  a  moment's 
delay,  the  curtain  was  induced  to  go  up  straight  and 
the  two  officers  entered  in  conventional  mufti,  athe 
Honorable  Mr.  D'Alroy"  could  hardly  keep  his  face 
straight,  and  the  dawdling,  languid  "  Hautree"  was  ob 
served  to  have  an  unusual  flush  upon  his  cheeks.  The 
explanatory  dialogue  between  the  love-smitten  subal 
tern  and  the  heavy-swell  captain  was  allowed  to  go  on 
without  other  symptoms  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
audience  than  an  occasional  titter  among  the  children. 
It  was  the  inebriated  "  Eccles"  who  scored  the  first 
point,  and  whose  triumphant  exit,  after  securing  "  the 
loan  of  a  sov"  from  "  Mr.  D'Alroy,"  fairly  brought  down 
the  house.  And  then  there  was  a  moment  of  hushed 
expectation  as  Mr.  Dana — a  very  handsome  "D'Alroy" 
i  n  17 


194  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

he  made  too — announced  the  coming  of  the  heroine, 
and  a  gentle  stir  of  welcoming  applause  greeted  the 
timid,  half-shy,  half-joyous  entrance  of  the  lovely 
"  Esther."  She  swept  forward  as  though  to  greet  her 
lover,  halted  irresolute  at  sight  of  "  Hautree,"  and  then 
forgot  them  both,  and  smiled  and  bowed  and  smirked, 
and  bowed  again,  and  even  essayed  a  stately  Rosina 
Yokes  courtesy  in  acknowledgment  of  a  greeting 
which  called  for  no  such  elaborate  response.  Anybody 
could  see  that  the  stage-manager  was  more  than  vexed. 
But,  oh,  why  should  the  simple,  modest,  poverty- 
stricken  London  girl  be  attired  in  a  tailor-made  street 
suit  of  the  latest  fashion?  Every  woman  in  the  au 
dience  saw  the  solecism  at  a  glance. 

"  I'll  bet  ten  to  one  that  was  the  cause  of  the  delay," 
growled  Stannard  to  Mrs.  Atherton,  after  it  had  been 
pointed  out  to  him.  And  he  wras  right.  She  had  worn  a 
very  different  garb  at  the  dress  rehearsal  the  night  be 
fore,  and  had  counted  on  escaping  Blake's  managerial 
eye  until  after  the  opening  of  the  first  act,  and  thus  ex 
hibiting  the  charming  toilet  just  received  from  the  dis 
tant  East;  but  he  had  come  upon  her  unawares,  and 
then  ensued  a  scene  not  down  on  the  bills.  Blake 
insisted  that  her  costume  was  entirely  inappropriate  and 
begged  her  to  change  it.  Mrs.  Turner  responded  that 
when  she  saw  what  a  guy  the  proper  dress  made  her, 
she  couldn't  bring  herself  to  wear  it,  and  would  not ; 
and  then  "  Legs"  made  his  fatal  blunder. 

"Good  heavens,  Mrs.  Turner,"  he  had  exclaimed, 
"  you  looked  lovely  in  it  last  night,  and  it  was  per 
fectly  in  accord  with  Mrs.  Granger's,  and  she  looks 
lovely  in  hers  now.  Do  send  right  over  and  get  it." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  195 

But  this  was  just  where  the  shoe  pinched.  Mrs. 
Granger  did  look  lovely  in  her  simple  but  exquisitely- 
fitting  costume.  She  had  a  figure  whose  beauty  was 
actually  enhanced  by  the  plainness  of  her  gown ; 
whereas  Mrs.  Turner's  strong  point  was  her  face,  not 
her  form,  and  it  took  consummate  art  to  make  the  latter 
beauteous.  .Determined  not  to  appear  at  a  disadvan 
tage,  Mrs.  Turner  had  planned  this  scheme,  and  now 
she  would  not  budge. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  know  very  well  how  Mrs.  Granger 
looks,  Mr.  Blake/7  was  her  spirited  reply ;  "  and 
though  you  have  eyes  for  nobody  else,  other  people 
may  not  be  so  indifferent  as  to  how  the  ladies  of  our 
regiment  look.  I  suppose  it  was  Mrs.  Granger  who 
sent  you  here  to  tell  me  to  change.  I  simply  won't, — 
it's  too  late,  anyhow." 

The  overture  was  nearly  finished.  Blake  despair 
ingly  swallowed  the  insinuations,  but  declared  Mrs. 
Granger  innocent  of  any  part  in  the  matter.  She  did 
not  even  know  of  Mi's.  Turner's  appearance,  but.  was 
at  this  moment  helping  the  maids  in  reducing  the  rouge 
on  the  cheeks  of  her  loyal  friend  and  admirer,  Mrs. 
Ross,  of  the  infantry,  who  was  to  appear  as  the  Mar 
quise  de  St.  Maur.  Blake  fairly  pleaded  with  Mrs. 
Turner,  but  she  was  inexorable  and  even  angry.  He 
thought  for  a  moment  of  summoning  Mrs.  Atherton 
behind  the  scenes  to  exert  her  influence,  but  by  this 
time  it  was  much  after  eight,  and  a  moment's  reflection 
convinced  him  that,  after  all,  it  was  best  to  let  her  have 
her  way ;  she  could  not  change  now  inside  of  half  an 
hour,  and,  if  she  were  compelled  to,  would  be  apt  to 
ruin  the  performance  in  some  other  way.  In  despera- 


196  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tion  he  turned  and  rushed  across  the  stage,  where  he  and 
Mr.  Heath,  all  ready  to  go  on  as  "Gerridge,"  had  a 
moment's  sympathetic  but  explosive  conference,  and 
then  he  summoned  "  D'Alroy,"  and,  with  wrath  in  his 
heart,  rang  up  the  curtain. 

"  Not  as  single  spies,  but  in  battalions,"  he  raved,  as 
"  D'Alroy"  nearly  upset  him  in  his  precipitate  retreat 
after  the  mishap  to  the  curtain.  u  It's  bad  enough  at 
the  start ;  what  will  the  ending  be  ?" 

In  this  moment  of  his  bitter  vexation  and  annoyance 
a  soft  white  hand,  a  hand  from  which  all  the  jewels 
had  been  removed,  was  laid  upon  his  arm,  and  that 
lovely,  beaming  face,  all  smiles  and  confidence,  looked 
up  into  his  troubled  eyes. 

"  Don't  worry,  Gerald ;  we'll  make  this  a  success. 
Do  you  think  I'd  let  it  be  a  failure  when  it  means  so 
much  to  you?" 

"  What  a  trump  you  are !"  he  muttered,  hoarsely, 
longing  yet  not  daring  to  meet  the  look  in  her  eyes. 
They  were  at  the  second  entrance  on  the  right  of  the 
stage  at  the  instant,  and  Dana  had  rushed  beyond.  In 
the  confusion  and  excitement  they  were  actually  un 
observed.  "'Pon  my  soul,  I  could  give  it  up  in  dis 
gust  if  you  weren't  here  to  stand  by  me !" 

"  Don't  you  know  I  would  do  that  always, — now, 
Gerald  ?"  she  softly  murmured,  gazing  one  moment 
into  his  face,  then  lowering  the  white  lids  until  the 
lashes  swept  her  flushed  cheeks. 

"  All  ready,  Mr.  Blake  !"  shouted  the  prompter. 

"  Let  her  go,  then,  quick  !  Come,  Dana."  But  then 
a  fatal  impulse  seized  him  and  he  turned.  Both  her 
white  hands  were  quickly  outstretched  to  him,  and 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  197 

grasping,  he  raised  them  with  sudden  movement  to  his 
burning  lips.  For  the  first  time  in  years  she  heard 
the  half-stifled,  the  longing,  passionate  cry, — "  Made 
leine!" — and  then  he  sprang  away.  But  she  stood 
there,  a  smile  of  triumph  on  her  face,  as,  a  moment 
later,  "Hautree"  dawdled  out  upon  the  stage,  his 
heart  bounding  in  his  breast. 

Who  in  all  that  audience  dreamed  of  the  wheels 
within  wheels,  the  drama  within  a  drama  enacted  behind 
that  dingy  canvas  screen  ?  Who  could  have  said  only 
a  few  moments  later  that  the  laughing,  romping,  rosy- 
cheeked  girl,  dancing  in  through  the  flimsy  door-way, 
her  white  teeth  flashing,  her  shapely  feet  pirouetting,  her 
lovely  face  smiling  pertly  up  into  "  Hautree's"  bewil 
dered  visage,  was  whispering  wantonly  to  herself,  "  He 
loves  me  !  He  loves  me  !  I  have  won  him  back  again." 

The  town  coterie  had  applauded  vigorously  at  her 
entrance ;  the  fort  had  affably  seconded,  but  a  laughing 
nod  was  the  only  recognition.  Her  silvery  voice  rang 
out  clear  and  resonant,  compelling  their  sudden  silence. 
She  was  through  with  the  brief  introductory  scene  in 
a  moment,  and  then  with  infinite  gusto  fell  to  chaffing 
"  Hautree."  There  was  a  shout  of  delight  from  the 
rear  of  the  hall  when  "  Polly"  refused  to  recognize  his 
rank,  scouted  the  idea  of  his  appearing  in  that  house 
as  a  captain,  and  bade  him  be  corporal  or  nothing.  The 
children  shrieked  with  merriment  over  the  by-play, 
where  she  made  him  take  the  kettle  by  the  spout,  and 
there  was  a  rapturous  burst  of  applause  from  the  entire 
audience  when  she  ordered  her  now  obedient  slave  to 
face  the  door-way,  and  then  commanded,  "  Forward 
march  !"  From  that  instant  the  interest  of  the  crowded 

17* 


198  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

throng  centred  on  her,  and  the  tailor-made  gown,  the 
lackadaisical  tremor  in  Mrs.  Turner's  voice,  the  plain 
tive  melancholy  in  her  pretty  face  were  all  ineffectual. 
Not  until  "  Polly "  re-entered  was  there  more  than  a 
ripple  of  sympathy  or  applause,  and  at  the  closing 
scene,  just  after  "D'Alroy"  had  implored  "Esther" 
to  be  his  wife,  and  Mrs.  Turner  had  thereupon  be 
stowed  a  liberal  allowance  of  rouge  and  powder  upon 
the  left  shoulder  of  his  cutaway,  which  led  to  a  jovial 
clapping  of  hands  in  the  body  of  the  house,  it  was 
"  Polly"  upon  whom  all  eyes  were  centred  as  "  Eccles" 
came  staggering  in.  The  dash  she  made  to  pull  down 
the  curtain  and  hide  the  sight  from  the  eyes  of  her 
bourgeois  lover,  "  Gerridge,"  simply  carried  everything 
by  storm.  She  would  have  remained  in  the  rear  of 
the  stage  at  the  tumultuous  recall,  Mrs.  Turner  bowing 
and  smirking  at  the  foot-lights  with  "D'Alroy"  at  her 
side,  but  louder  and  louder  rang  the  applause,  and 
Blake  from  behind  the  scenes  shouted  to  "  Eccles"  to 
lead  her  to  the  front,  and  not  until  then  were  Mrs. 
Morris's  roses  launched  at  her  feet.  There  was  no 
mistaking  for  whom  they  were  intended,  and  "  Eccles" 
scored  another  hit  by  the  inimitable  manner  in  which 
he  first  picked  up  the  flowers,  then  his  hat,  and  event 
ually  himself.  Mrs.  Turner's  share  of  the  spoils  was 
a  little  bunch  of  carnations. 

"  Isn't  she  wonderful  ?"  "  Whoever  dreamed  she 
was  such  an  actress  ?"  were  the  remarks  flying  from 
lip  to  lip,  during  the  interval  between  the  acts.  The 
ladies  from  the  fort  were  evidently  taken  by  surprise, 
while  those  from  town  were  serenely  superior  and  tri 
umphant  :  they  knew  all  about  it,  as  Mrs.  Morris 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  199 

promptly  claimed.  In  the  general  sensation  poor  Mrs. 
Turner  was  totally  forgotten.  Even  the  tailor-made 
gown  seemed  to  escape  comment.  The  orchestra  was 
now  playing — introduction  and  all — one  of  Strauss's 
loveliest  waltzes,  but  the  buzz  of  tongues  fairly 
drowned  the  melody.  Mrs.  Freeman  had  turned  and 
was  chatting  in  low  murmur  with  Mrs.  Truscott.  Here, 
at  least,  was  a  small  section  of  the  audience  where  the 
applause  had  been  somewhat  less  enthusiastic.  Jack, 
bending  over  behind  his  wife,  beckoned  Ray  closer. 

"Billy,  will  you  see  Mrs.  Truscott  to  the  colonel's 
when  the  play  is  out?  I  will  be  busy  a  while." 

"Anything  wrong,  Jack?" 

"  Granger's  driver,  the  new  one,  was  assaulted  down 
at  the  stables.  Nobody  knows  by  whom.  He  says 
two  men  were  concerned  :  one  of  them  wore  a  soldier's 
overcoat." 

"  Nobody  else  see  it  ?" 

"  Not  a  soul.  The  Grangers  came  very  early,  and 
the  quartermaster's  stable  was  deserted.  The  sentry 
finally  heard  his  cries,  but  got  there  too  late.  He's 
badly  battered,  and  we  took  him  over  to  the  hospital." 

"Reckon  he  must  have  some  suspicion,  hasn't  he?" 

'  Yes;  he  says  Grimsby,  the  discharged  man,  was 
the  only  enemy  he  had,  and  no  one  has  seen  Grimsby 
around  the  post  since  yesterday.  Some  of  Freeman's 
men  got  into  an  altercation  over  the  matter  with  the 
drivers  who  came  out  from  town,  and  there  came  near 
being  a  fracas.  I'll  tell  you  more  next  intermission," 
he  closed,  as  the  ladies  ceased  their  chat,  and  Mrs. 
Truscott  leaned  back  in  her  seat. 

But  if  Mrs.  Granger  scored  a  success  in  the  first  act, 


200  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

it  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  whirlwind  of 
triumph  that  attended  her  at  the  close  of  the  second. 
In  the  scene  with  "  Hautree,"  when  he  appears  in  the 
uniform  of  the  heavy  dragoon,  even  the  other  char 
acters  on  the  stage,  "  D'Alroy"  and  "  Esther,"  seemed 
utterly  to  forget  their  roles  and  lose  themselves  in  un 
wonted  admiration  of  the  vivacious  "  Polly.77  Nothing 
in  all  their  rehearsals  had  prepared  them  for  such  a 
revelation  of  dramatic  power.  Her  ringing,  infectious 
laughter ;  her  irresistible  fun ;  her  simulated  awe  at 
the  appearance  of  the  two  dragoons  in  their  regi 
mentals  ;  her  caperings  about  the  stage,  as  though 
mounted  astride  a  prancing  charger ;  her  capital  imita 
tion  of  the  colonel's  word  of  command,  as  she  flourished 
her  folded  parasol  sabre-fashion  ;  her  perfect  execution 
of  the  cuts  and  thrusts  ("  Gad !  she's  had  hours  of 
Blake's  coaching  there,"  whispered  Wilkins) ;  and 
then  the  grandiloquent  address,  delivered  as  though 
seated  in  the  saddle  in  front  of  listening  battalions, 
with  all  manner  of  sotto  voce  appeals  to  her  imaginary 
steed  to  stand  still,  and  the  interpolated  business  of 
almost  toppling  out  of  her  seat  at  times  and  frantic 
clutchings  at  her  charger's  mane  and  clasping  of  her 
arms  about  the  invisible  neck.  It  was  simply  inimi 
table.  Even  Blake  could  hardly  restrain  his  delight. 

"  Why  don't  you  gallop  in  on  horseback  like  they 
do  at  Astley's?  Look  at  me  !"  she  cried,  prancing  up 
and  down  and  curvetting  across  the  stage.  "  Soldiers  of 
France,  the  eyes  of  Europe  are  a-looking  at  you.  The 
emperor  has  confidence  in  you,  and  expects  that  every 
man  will  do  his  utmost.  The  enemy  is  before  you, — 
worse  luck  !  Your  comrades  are  behind  you, — all  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  201 

better  for  them!  Go  and  get  killed  .for  France  and 
glory,  and  to  those  who  escape  the  emperor  will  give 
a  little  bit  of  ribbon.  Raise  sabaw  !  Carree  sabaw ! 
Battalio-o-n  ha-a-alt !  Present  sabaw  !  Carree  sabaw ! 
Forward  ;  trot ;  ma-a-a-rch  !  Gallop ;  ma-a-a-rch  ! 
Steadee  there  in  the  centre!  Look  where  you're  going, 
Finnigan  !  Dress  back  there,  Maloney  !  Wait  for 
the  next  command.  Now,  lads.  Touch  boot  to  the 
centre,  cha-a-a-a-rge  !"  And  at  that  final  charge,  as  she 
dashed  across  the  stage,  her  parasol  at  tierce  point, 
making  directly  at  "  Hautree,"  officers  and  hundreds  of 
men  sprang  to  their  feet,  shouting  "  Bravo !"  or  cheer 
ing  vociferously.  Time  and  again  she  had  to  come 
forward,  breathless,  bowing,  smiling,  looking  so  sweetly 
surprised,  so  unaffectedly  grateful  at  all  this  demon 
stration  in  her  honor,  Mrs.  Turner  the  while  standing 
helplessly  biting  her  lips  and  forgetting  utterly  her  own 
"stage  business"  in  envious  contemplation  of  her  now 
triumphant  rival.  It  was  full  three  minutes  before  the 
play  could  go  on,  and  "  Madame  la  Marquise"  twice 
essayed  an  entry,  only  to  be  driven  back  by  renewed 
tumult  in  front.  And  at  last,  when  the  act  was  finished 
and  the  curtain  finally  went  down,  after  two  enthusi 
astic  recalls,  in  which  "  Polly"  was  again  showered 
with  roses  and  carnations,  people  took  a  long,  long 
breath  and  turned  to  one  another. 

"  That  one  scene,"  said  the  colonel,  "  would  cover  a 
thousand  defects !"  and  publicly  he  rose  and  offered  his 
hand  to  Granger,  who  was  being  overwhelmed  with  com 
pliment  and  congratulation.  Then  came  a  message  from 
the  green-room  to  Captain  Turner:  Mrs.  Turner  was 
feeling  far  from  well ;  wouldn't  he  please  come  to  her? 


202  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

This  intermission  proved  of  unusual  length.  "  Mrs. 
George  D'Alroy"  should  have  changed  her  costume 
here  as  she  had  between  the  first  and  second  acts,  for 
now  she  was  to  represent  the  impoverished  widow. 
But  such  was  the  sense  of  overwhelming  defeat  and 
disappointment,  such  her  bitter  consciousness  of  in 
feriority  to  her  rival,  that  poor  Mrs.  Turner  was  indeed 
sick  at  heart  and  wanted  to  go  home.  In  vain  Blake, 
Ross,  and  Dana  implored :  it  was  all  useless.  In  vain 
Mrs.  Granger  and  Mrs.  Ross  offered  feminine  comfort 
and  ministration.  She  declared  it  simply  impossible 
to  go  on  again.  She  was  blind  with  raging  headache 
and  too  dizzy  to  stand.  Somebody  would  have  to  read 
her  part.  Then  Blake  bethought  himself  of  Turner ; 
and  that  solemn-faced  soldier  appeared  upon  the  scene 
and  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance.  Deeply  though 
he  sorrowed  for  her  in  the  depths  of  her  woman's  woe, 
he  couldn't  sanction  defection  now.  He  knew  full  well 
the  cause  of  her  sudden  prostration. 

"  You've  simply  got  to  finish,  Fanny,"  he  said,  in 
low,  stern  tone.  "  I  will  not  allow  you  to  ruin  the 
thing  now."  And  so  the  despairing  lady  bounced  up 
to  the  mirror,  and  between  sobs  and  reproaches  began 
obliterating  the  tear-furrows  from  the  flush  of  her 
cheeks  and  renewing  the  carmine  of  her  twitching  lips. 
Mr.  Blake  must  at  least  announce  to  the  audience  that 
she  was  desperately  ill,  but,  determined  not  to  dis 
appoint  her  friends,  she  would  stick  to  her  part. 
Blake,  hastily  doffing  the  dragoon  dress  at  this  moment 
in  his  little  dressing-closet  on  the  O.  P.  side,  was  duly 
notified  by  Turner  of  her  decision. 

"  Well,  you  tell  the  orchestra  to  keep  on,"  he  shouted  ; 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  203 

"and  tell  the  prompter  to  raise  the  curtain  the  moment 
the  music  stops.     I'll  make  the  announcement/' 

Turner  hastened  forth  to  do  his  bidding,  stopping 
one  instant  at  the  door  of  the  ladies'  dressing-room. 
Then  came  a  misinterpretation  of  orders.  Blake  had 
just  thrust  his  long  legs  into  the  black  trousers  of  his 
evening  suit  and  his  head  and  arms  through  their  appro 
priate  channels  in  the  dress-shirt,  when  the  assistants, 
setting  the  stage  for  the  third  act,  drove  the  cottage 
piano  against  one  of  the  wings,  and  the  big  frame 
work  came  toppling  over  on  his  canvas  den.  There 
was  just  time  to  spring  from  under,  and,  with  the  sus 
penders  of  his  trousers  dangling  about  his  heels,  a 
waistcoat  in  one  hand,  a  collar  and  white  tie  in  the 
other,  and  the  shirt  hanging  au  naturel  between,  Blake 
had  bolted  out  on  the  stage,  and,  utterly  engrossed  in 
directions  as  to  repairing  damages,  never  noted  the  sud 
den  stop  of  the  music,  never  marked  the  simultaneous 
rise  of  the  curtain,  never  realized  the  situation  until  a 
roar  of  laughter  and  frantic  and  delighted  applause 
saluted  his  astonished  ears.  One  amazed  glance  over 
his  shoulder ;  one  wild  leap  to  "  L.  3  E.,"  and  he  was 
out  of  sight,  but  far  from  out  of  hearing.  The  curtain 
was  rung  down  amidst  continued  roars  of  laughter. 
The  orchestra  was  bidden  to  blaze  away  again,  and  the 
half-hour  interlude  proved  by  long  odds  the  merriest 
episode  of  the  evening.  When  next,  immaculate  in 
evening  dress,  with  his  monocle  dangling  from  his 
forefinger,  the  stage-manager  squeezed  through  the 
narrow  aperture  at  the  prompter's  side,  and  appeared 
before  the  foot-lights,  the  shouts  and  stampings  and 
hand-clappings  were  renewed,  and  Blake  stood  there 


204  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

bowing  and  laughing,  and,  for  a  time,  vainly  signalling 
for  silence.  Eventually  they  let  him  speak. 

"  It  is  with  infinite  regret  the  management  is  com 
pelled  to  announce  the  serious  indisposition  of  our  fair 
leading  lady,  Mrs.  Turner,  who  has  been  suffering 
ever  since  the  performance  began ;  but  such  is  her 
spirit  and  determination  that  she  refuses  to  succumb, 
and  will  finish  the  play.  (Prompt  and  sympathetic 
applause,  led  by  Mrs.  Atherton.)  The  management 
feels  it  due  to  her,  however,  that  so  cultured  and  ap 
preciative  an  audience  should  be  fully  informed  of  the 
misfortune  which  has  befallen  us  all,  and  to  bespeak 
for  itself  a  moiety  of  that  kindly  consideration  so 
readily  extended  to  her.  We  are  keenly  conscious 
(and  here  his  face  assumed  its  expression  of  preter 
natural  gloom)  of  our  many  dramatic  shirt-comings, — 
I — I — mean  short-comings  (shouts  of  laughter),  yet  we 
find  modified  comfort  in  the  reflection  that  t-there  can 
be  now  no  warrant  for  referring  to  our  effort  as  a 
shiftless  performance  (more  laughter),  especially  in 
view  of  the  recent  and-er-unlooked-for  accession  to  our 
— ahem — chemise- en-scene." 

He  vanished  amidst  a  chorus  of  groans,  laughter, 
and  applause. 

"  I  wish  I  had  a  cabbage  to  throw  at  him,"  growled 
Carroll,  who  hated  Blake. 

"  Take  off  your  head,  me  boy,"  chuckled  Wilkins. 
"  Faith  !  we'd  die  of  the  dumps  if  we  were  all  like  you. 
Whist !  Look  at  the  orderly  !  He's  got  a  telegram  !" 

The  trumpeter  of  the  guard  was  making  his  way 
down  the  aisle  towards  the  commanding  officer,  a  tall 
civilian  following ;  and  Stannard,  first  catching  sight 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  205 

of  them  as  they  reached  the  colonel's  row,  stretched 
forth  his  hand,  took  the  despatch,  and  handed  it  to 
Atherton,  who  opened  and  read  it  without  change  of 
countenance,  yet  looked  up  inquiringly,  nodded  to  the 
civilian,  spoke  a  word  in  low  tone  to  his  wife,  then 
rose  and  made  his  way  to  the  aisle. 

"  Your  office  here  being  closed,"  said  the  messenger, 
"  Laramie  called  us  up  in  town,  and  the  despatch  was 
so  important  I  got  a  horse  and  rode  right  out." 

"  Thank  you,"  answered  the  colonel.  "  Let  me  have 
two  blanks  and  your  pencil  a  moment."  All  over  the 
crowded  audience  dozens  of  anxious  faces  watched  him 
as  he  quickly  wrote  a  few  lines  on  each  blank,  handed 
them  to  the  messenger,  saying,  "  Please  get  those  off 
at  once."  Then  on  his  way  back  to  his  seat,  just  as 
the  curtain  was  rising  for  the  third  act,  he  met  the  in 
quiring  eyes  of  his  adjutant,  simply  shook  his  head, 
and  stowed  the  despatch  away  in  the  breast-pocket  of 
his  coat. 

But  everybody  knew  that  only  for  some  matter  of 
urgent  importance  would  messengers  be  sent  out  from 
town  at  that  hour  of  the  night,  and  it  was  this  that 
tempered  the  ovation  to  Blake  and  to  Mrs.  Granger  at 
the  final  drop  of  the  curtain,  and  afterwards  as  the 
ladies  flocked  about  her  when  she  came  forth  from 
behind  the  scenes. 

Almost  everybody  had  been  bidden  to  the  Athertons7 
for  creature  comfort  after  the  play,  and  thither  now 
many  groups  were  strolling  across  the  white  parade. 
Snow-clouds  had  gathered,  and  a  fleecy  veil  covered 
the  face  of  the  country  far  as  e*ye  could  see.  The 
moon  was  hidden,  yet  her  light  seemed  diffused  by  the 

18 


206  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

softly-drifting  crystals.  Carriages  and  a  'bus  or  two 
were  loading  up  for  town.  Others  stood  waiting  over 
by  the  colonel's  gate.  Mr.  Billings,  leaving  his  better 
half  with  Royce,  had  quickly  joined  his  chief  in  re 
sponse  to  a  signal,  and  Atherton  and  his  adjutant 
stepped  to  one  side. 

At  this  moment  there  came  forth  the  heroine  of  the 
evening,  leaning  on  her  husband's  arm,  and  with  all 
becoming  modesty,  with  frank  and  joyous  acceptance 
of  their  congratulations,  Mrs.  Granger  was  striving  to 
reply  to  the  host  of  admirers  of  both  sexes  who  hovered 
about  her.  Blake,  following  closely  and  muffled  up  to 
the  chin  in  his  big  overcoat,  was  laughing,  ranting, 
shaking  hands  with  every  man  who  came  up  to  felici 
tate  him  on  the  great  success  of  the  play,  and  his  own 
happy  way  of  getting  out  of  a  comical  scrape.  He,  at 
least,  had  seen  nothing  of  the  arrival  of  the  messenger 
from  town,  and  had  no  premonition  of  stirring  news. 
Just  as  the  young  assistant-surgeon  was  bowing  over 
Mrs.  Granger's  extended  hand  and  bidding  her  good 
night,  the  voice  of  the  adjutant  was  heard. 

"Has  Dr.  Wright  gone?" 

"No,  Billings,  here!  what  is  it?"  asked  Wright, 
straightening  up  at  once. 

"  Orders  for  you  to  start  for  Powder  River  at  dawn. 
There's  been  a  fight  up  near  the  cantonment." 

"Hah,  physician,  heel  thyself!"  shouted  Blake, 
never  at  a  loss  for  a  misquotation.  "  Shall  I  lend  you 
my  Smith  and  Wessons  ?" 

"You'll  need  'em  yourself,  old  man,"  said  Billings, 
in  lower  tone.  "  A  detachment  of  twenty  men  go  at 
same  time, — you  in  command." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  207 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

FOR  ten  minutes,  at  least,  hardly  anything  was 
spoken  of  at  the  colonel's  but  the  fact  that  Tommy 
Hollis  had  had  a  fight  with  the  Indians  and  was  pain 
fully,  yet  not  dangerously,  wounded.  "They  must 
have  hit  him  in  the  head,"  proclaimed  Mrs.  Wilkins, 
who  never  lost  a  chance  of  a  whack  at  Tommy.  Indeed, 
Bob  Royce  was  heard  to  mutter  under  his  heavy  mous 
tache,  "  Well,  well,  well  ;  a  fool  for  luck."  And  yet 
Hollis  was  genuinely  popular,  and,  despite  the  blunders 
which  often  exasperated  the  men,  and  the  devotions  to 
one  not  of  their  number  which  gave  umbrage  to  the 
women,  had  hosts  of  friends  in  the  regiment ;  even 
Mrs.  Wilkins  liked  him  for  his  goodness  of  heart  and 
willingness  to  oblige,  but  she  thoroughly  hated  Mrs. 
Granger  and  could  not  forgive  it  in  Hollis  that  he 
should  have  become  her  slave.  As  for  Blake,  the  depth 
of  her  indignation  knew  no  bounds;  she  was  only 
bottling  her  vengeance,  nursing  her  wrath,  and  waiting 
for  some  favorable  moment  in  which  to  explode  it  with 
telling  effect. 

Mrs.  Granger's  brilliant  success  of  the  evening  had 
only  served  to  intensify  the  feeling  the  honest  woman 
had  so  vehemently  cherished  against  her.  Even  while 
struck  with  unwonted  admiration  of  her  histrionic 
powers,  not  for  one  instant  would  Mrs.  Wilkins  be 


208  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

guilty  of  the  weakness  of  joining  in  the  congratulations 
and  compliments  showered  upon  the  belle  of  the  even 
ing.  She  even  went  so  far  during  a  lull  in  the  con 
versation  as  to  distinctly  aver  in  the  hearing  of  Mrs. 
Granger  that,  when  she  saw  "  Caste"  played  in  New 
York,  the  leading  lady  dressed  and  acted  it  very  much 
as  Mrs.  Turner  did.  "  What  a  pity  she  was  taken  ill ! 
If  it  hadn't  been  for  that  the  play  would  have  been 
such  a  success.'7  Not  by  the  faintest  tremor  in  her 
voice  did  Mrs.  Granger  show  she  felt  the  stab,  but 
with  prompt  sympathy  she  was  heard  to  say  that  noth 
ing  could  have  been  more  unfortunate,  for  Mrs.  Turner 
had  done  beautifully  at  the  rehearsals  and  they  had 
all  so  depended  upon  her;  and  Mrs.  Wilkins  raged 
inwardly  at  the  dead  failure  of  her  missiles.  "  I  might 
as  well  shoot  bow-arrows  at  an  ironclad,"  she  muttered 
to  Mrs.  Billings,  who  happened  to  be  alongside  at  the 
moment.  "  Just  wait  till  I  catch  Blake ;  it's  him  that 
will  squirm."  And,  surely  enough,  not  ten  minutes 
later  the  onset  occurred. 

Blake  was  in  the  wildest  and  most  uncontrollable 
spirits.  The  news  that  he  was  to  march  at  dawn  to 
take  the  place  of  Lieutenant  Hollis  was  known  through 
out  the  entire  company  before  they  had  been  within  the 
colonel's  doors  a  minute.  Everybody  was  crowding 
around,  mingling  congratulations  on  his  success  of  the 
evening,  with  regrets  at  his  enforced  departure.  Mrs. 
Granger  had  heard  it  on  the  way  over  as  she  strolled 
along,  leaning  upon  her  husband's  arm,  laughing,  chat 
ting,  and  most  graciously  receiving  the  compliments 
lavished  upon  her.  Blake,  after  two  minutes  brief 
converse  with  the  adjutant,  had  gone  striding  after  her 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  209 

fast  as  bis  long  legs  could  carry  him,  and  overtook  the 
group  surrounding  her  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the 
colonel's  gate.  She  never  appeared  to  notice  either  his 
temporary  absence  or  his  return,  but  the  very  moment 
after  his  voice  was  heard  in  jovial  reply  to  the  com 
miseration  of  some  of  the  party  upon  his  sudden 
orders,  she  turned  to  Granger  : 

"  You  have  my  fan  in  your  pocket,  dear  ?" 

"  I  ?  no  !  you  never  gave  it  to  me." 

"  How  utterly  careless  of  me  ! — and  it  is  that  beauty 
you  bought  for  me  in  Paris  !  I  must  have  left  it  in 
the  dressing-room.  Let  us  go  back  at  once." 

"  Oh,  there's  no  need  of  your  going,"  he  answered, 
grimly.  "  I  can  find  it  easy  enough — if  it's  there,"  he 
added,  with  odd  significance. 

One  or  two  young  officers  proffered  their  services, 
but  she  would  trouble  no  one.  Major  Granger  knew 
the  fan,  and  Major  Granger  went.  Another  moment 
and,  still  keeping  up  her  bright  converse  with  the 
ladies  around  her,  she  had  quietly  but  possessively 
taken  Blake's  arm.  All  the  rest  of  the  way,  even  to 
the  very  door,  she  laughed  and  chatted,  but  there  she 
hung  back  a  moment  as  though  looking  for  her  lord. 
The  group  passed  within  the  hospitable  portals.  Others 
were  coming.  Billy  Ray's  glad  voice  and  Mrs.  Trus- 
cott's  merry  laugh  were  heard  just  beyond  the  hedge. 
There  was  barely  an  instant,  but  in  that  instant  she  had 
clung  to  his  side  and  looked  wildly  up  into  his  face. 

"  Gerald  !  Gerald  !  tell  me  it  is  not  true  ;  you're  not 

going,  not   now,  not  now — when "  and  here  she 

stopped  abruptly,  bowing  her  queenly  head  as  though 
shame-stricken. 

o  18* 


210  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Yes,  at  day-break/7  he  answered  low. 

"  O  my  God  !"  he  heard  her  murmur,  as  she  drooped 
until  the  white  forehead  rested  in  the  fur  lapel  of  his 
heavy  coat.  "  And  I  cannot  see  you — cannot  tell  you, 
Gerald  ?"  she  implored,  looking  quickly,  eagerly  again 
up  into  his  face.  "  Where  can  I  write  to  you  ?  I  must 
write  ! — and  you  address  me  under  cover  to  Mrs. 
Morris.  Quick  !  they're  coming." 

Freeman  and  his  wife,  Nannie  Bryan,  Mrs.  Truscott, 
and  Ray  came  laughing  through  the  narrow  gate- way 
at  the  moment.  The  Stannards  were  just  behind 
them.  Too  late  now,  whatever  that  "  quick !"  may 
have  meant,  for  her  lovely  face  was  upturned  to  his 
when  she  said  it.  At  the  sound  of  footsteps  on  the 
creaking  board-walk,  D'Orsay  promptly  reopened  the 
door,  and  in  the  broad  streak  of  light  Blake  was  re 
vealed,  bending  double  in  his  effort  to  find  a  dropped 
glove. 

"  There  it  is  !"  cried  Mrs.  Granger,  blithely.  "  Ah, 
good  people,  we  beat  you  by  just  a  neck.  Have 
you  heard  that  Mr.  Hollis  was  wounded  ?  Mr.  Ray, 
I  condole  with  you — a  fight  and  you  not  in  it.'7  And 
so,  laughing  and  talking  joyously,  she  passed  with  them 
into  the  brightly-lighted  hall. 

For  an  hour  she  was  the  centre  of  an  admiring 
throng  in  the  Athertons'  parlor.  Never  had  she 
seemed  more  gracious,  winning,  unaffected.  The  miss 
ing  fan  was  found  midway  between  the  theatre  and  the 
colonel's  gate.  Granger  had  tendered  it  without  a 
word  of  any  kind,  and  then  eagerly  assented  to  a 
proposition  to  take  a  hand  at  whist  with  some  of  the 
elders  in  the  colonel's  den.  Blake  hovered  about  her, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  211 

watchful  of  every  glance.  His  eyes  were  snapping 
with  excitement ;  a  deep  flush  was  on  his  cheek ;  his 
voice  and  laughter  rang  through  the  crowded  rooms. 
Man  after  man,  woman  after  woman  came  to  congratu 
late  him  on  the  success  of  the  theatricals  and  his  own 
exploit  as  manager,  and  to  say  how  they  mourned  his 
having  to  leave  at  such  a  time.  To  one  and  all  he 
made  laughing,  often  ranting  reply ;  but  never  for  a 
moment  did  he  lose  sight  of  her.  At  last  "  the 
Wilkinses"  approached  to  bid  their  hostess  good-night, 
and  Mrs.  Wilkins  had  had  just  enough  champagne  to 
develop  her  imp  of  antagonism  to  its  full  extent.  She 
stopped  in  front  of  Mrs.  Granger  and  held  forth  her 
pudgy  hand  and  looked  that  lovely  matron  straight  in 
the  eyes. 

"  Good-night,  Mrs.  Granger.  Sure,  I'm  glad  for 
your  sake  you  have  two  strings  to  your  bow — now 
that  Blake  has  to  go,  you  won't  be  long  without 
Tommy." 

People  fairly  gasped  at  the  absolute  insolence  of  her 
manner.  Even  those  who  had  known  her  for  years  and 
remembered  how  she  had  braved  woman  after  woman 
who  strove  to  patronize  her,  stood  aghast  now  at  this 
performance.  For  one  instant  Mrs.  Granger  paled  and 
faltered.  It  was  Blake  who  came  to  the  rescue.  He 
had  been  closely  watching  Mrs.  Wilkins  and  felt  sure 
that  mischief  was  brewing. 

"  Two  strings  on  her  bow !  Only  two  ?  Nay, 
thou  paragon  of  women,  say,  rather,  two  beaux  on  her 
string,  with  a  dozen  to  fall  back  on  if  Tommy  or  I 
fall  off." 

"  Faith,  she  won't  break  her  heart  saying  good-by  to 


212  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

you,  Mr.  Blake;  neither  will  I.  It's  high  time  you 
were  going." 

"  Then  farewell,  fair  Cruelty,"  ranted  Blake,  with 
melodramatic  play  of  every  feature,  though  his  heart 
raged  with  wrath  against  her.  Mrs.  Granger's  silvery 
laughter — glad  and  infectious — rang  through  the  room 
in  a  jubilant  peal.  People  could  not  help  joining  in. 
AVhat  better  way  was  there  of  covering  a  scene  so 
awkward  as  this  might  have  been  ?  It  only  made  Mrs. 
Wilkins  more  furious. 

"  Fm  not  bidding  you  good-by,  Mr.  Blake ;  I'll  be 
up  to  give  you  my  parting  blessing  as  you  march,  and 
a  hint  or  two  to  take  along."  And  she  nodded  signifi 
cantly  as  Wilkins  tugged  at  her  buxom  arm. 

"  J°y  •  j°y  indeed  !  thou  queen  of  hearts  !     What ! 

"  Wilt  thou  see  me  ride? 
And  when  I  am  o'  horseback  I  will  swear 
I  love  thee  infinitely," 

he  declaimed,  as  amidst  shouts  of  laughter  Wilkins  led 
her  away.  But  there  was  a  lull  when  she  had  gone. 
Blake's  face  was  flushed,  his  forehead  beaded,  and  Mrs. 
Granger's  cheeks  were  burning. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  major  finished  his  rubber  and 
came  in  search  of  his  radiant  wife.  Most  of  the  party 
had  gone  home,  but  she  was  still  surrounded  by  a  little 
coterie,  eagerly  talking  over  the  play,  and  deftly  ques 
tioning  her  as  to  how  or  where  she  had  acquired  such 
proficiency. 

"  There  was  a  time,"  she  frankly  said,  "  when  I 
seriously  thought  of  going  on  the  stage,  and  I  had 
been  studying  over  a  year  when  I  married  Major 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE,  213 

Granger.  It  was  that  that  put  an  end  to  it.  You 
know  my  father  was  a  naval  officer  who  had  to  live  up 
to  every  cent  of  his  pay,  as  we  all  do,  and  I  would 
have  had  nothing  when  he  was  taken  from  me.  With 
the  instruction  I  received  I  could  support  myself  at  any 
time." 

It  was  then  that  Granger  came  in  and  said  it  was 
time  to  go,  and  she  received  a  good-night  from  the 
women  that  was  in  itself  another  social  triumph. 
Presently,  as  she  came  down-stairs,  hooded  and  cloaked, 
and  was  escorted  by  a  little  procession  to  the  carriage, 
the  colonel  had  offered  her  his  arm  ;  the  ladies  thronged 
the  door- way  and  hall ;  Granger,  Blake,  Clark,  and 
Royce  followed  to  the  gate,  and  there  sat  the  driver 
with  a  bandaged  head. 

"What's  the  trouble,  Reilly?"  asked  Granger, 
stopping  suddenly. 

"Nothing  serious,  sir/7  promptly  spoke  Captain 
Truscott,  who  was  standing  by  the  forward  axle. 
"  There  was  a  fight  between  the  drivers  at  the  stables. 
He's  all  right,  and  we  had  him  patched  up  over  at  the 
hospital.  I  will  tell  you  all  we  know  in  the  morning." 

But  even  there  men  could  see  that  Granger  hesitated, 
hung  back,  and  trembled.  His  wife  was  handed  in, 
and  Blake  stepped  quickly  around  to  her  side  at  the 
open  laudau.  She  stole  her  hand  from  under  the  heavy 
robes  and  it  was  seized  in  both  of  his.  She  bent  low 
one  instant  and  whispered, — 

"  Gerald,  Gerald,  come  back  to  me." 

They  bundled  Granger  in,  as  he  seemed  still  hesi 
tant  ;  banged  to  the  door,  and  Truscott's  voice,  low- 
toned  but  emphatic,  was  heard  saying,  "  Go  on." 


214  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

As  soon  as  the  carriage  disappeared  in  the  darkness 
the  colonel  turned  to  his  officer  of  the  day : 

"Come  in,  Truscott,  I  want  to  hear  what  has 
happened.  Mr.  Blake,  I  will  say  good-by,  as  you 
doubtless  have  preparations  to  make;  the  adjutant  will 
give  you  your  instructions  when  you  start." 

And  Atherton  extended  his  hand,  which  Blake  took, 
held  one  instant  as  though  he  wished  to  say  something, 
then  released  with  a  formal  "  Good-by,  sir.  I'll  see 
you  fellows  later,"  he  added,  as  he  turned  away. 

Five  hours  more  and  a  little  column  of  cavalrymen 
riding  by  twos,  dressed  in  buffalo  overcoats,  fur  caps, 
fur  gauntlets,  leggings,  and  heavy  "  arctics,"  went 
winding  away  against  the  white  background  of  the 
northern  divide.  Nannie  Bryan,  sitting  at  the  little 
dormer  window  of  the  back  room  in  Freeman's  quar 
ters,  while  the  children  were  still  peacefully  sleeping, 
watched  them  until  they  were  out  of  sight  and  then 
crept  back  to  bed  again  and  hid  her  face  in  the  pillow. 

Almost  everybody  was  late  putting  in  an  appearance 
that  cold,  sparkling  morning.  The  prairie  and  the 
broad  parade  were  dazzlingly  white  in  the  unclouded 
sunshine.  The  guard  was  mounted  without  the  band, 
and  in  heavy  overcoats,  fur  caps  and  gauntlets.  Captain 
Truscott,  as  old  officer  of  the  day,  and  Mr.  Billings, 
the  adjutant,  had  to  be  out  at  eight  o'clock,  and,  indeed, 
they  had  been  up  and  out  before  the  dawn  to  see  Blake 
well  started  ;  and  Mrs.  Wilkins — true  to  her  promise — 
was  astir  as  soon  as  anybody,  and  had  some  steaming 
hot  coffee  ready  for  Blake  and  his  friends  as  they  were 
going  down  to  the  stables.  Blake,  still  wrathful,  would 
have  avoided  her  if  he  could  have  done  so,  but  there 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  215 

was  no  circumventing  a  woman  of  her  determination. 
She  suddenly  opened  the  door  as  they  came  laughing 
down  the  gravel  walk  and  bade  them  enter  at  once — 
coffee  was  all  ready,  and,  as  Truscott  and  Billings  were 
glad  to  accept  her  hospitality,  Blake  simply  had  to  go 
with  them;  but  he  took  good  care  that  she  had  no 
chance  to  convey  the  hint  or  two  she  had  promised  him, 
and  they  parted  with  every  show  of  amity. 

Turner,  who  was  new  officer  of  the  day,  appeared 
only  just  as  the  trumpets  began  to  sound  the  troop. 
Mrs.  Turner,  he  explained,  had  been  so  ill  all  night 
that  he  had  no  sleep  until  towards  morning.  A  new 
prisoner  stood  among  those  at  the  guard-house  as  the 
old  and  new  officers  of  the  day  appeared,  and  Turner 
looked  curiously  at  him  ;  he  was  in  civilian  dress  and 
wore  a  heavy  frieze  overcoat. 

"  Who's  that  ?"  he  asked  of  Truscott,  as  they  ap 
proached  the  guard. 

"  A  deserter  from  the  infantry.  He  was  mixed  up 
in  the  row  last  night,  and  Sergeant  Carmody  recog 
nized  him." 

Taking  the  report-book  from  the  officer  of  the  guard, 
Captain  Truscott  called  over  the  list  of  prisoners. 
Each  in  answering  to  his  name  stepped  one  pace  for 
ward.  Finally  he  came  to  the  last  on  the  page. 
"Howell,"  he  called.  No  answer.  The  man  in 
civilian  dress  stood  fast  and  simply  eyed  the  tall 
captain. 

"  Answer  to  your  name,  sir/'  said  Truscott,  with  the 
grave,  quiet  dignity  his  men  so  well  knew. 

"  That  isn't  my  name,"  was  the  prompt,  but  surly 
reply. 


216  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  It  is  the  name  by  which  you  were  known  in  the 
— d  Infantry  a  year  ago,"  was  Truscott's  answer,  in  the 
same  quiet  tone.  "  You  were  recognized  by  Sergeant 
Carmody  and  two  other  men  who  served  with  you  at 
Fort  Steele,  where  you  are  said  to  have  deserted." 

"  I  never  saw  the  sergeant  before  in  my  life.  I  was 
never  in  the  army,  and  I  am  held  here  against  the  laws 
of  the  land.  Somebody'll  pay  for  it  as  soon  as  I  can 
consult  a  lawyer."  The  men  in  the  old  and  new  guard 
stood  like  statues,  hardly  breathing  as  they  listened  to 
this  strange  colloquy.  The  few  prisoners — half  a  dozen 
soldiers  undergoing  sentence  or  awaiting  trial — glanced 
furtively  at  one  another  and  eagerly  at  their  new  asso 
ciate  ;  one  of  them  put  his  hand  up  to  his  face  and 
grinned  and  whispered  to  his  next  neighbor,  as  the 
stranger  made  his  threats. 

"  Who  recognized  this  man  besides  yourself,  Ser 
geant  Carmody  ?"  asked  the  old  officer  of  the  day  of  a 
tall  soldier  who  stood  respectfully  by. 

"  Higgins  and  Walters,  sir ;  both  of  them  were  at 
Steele  while  he  was  there.  I  was  up  there  four  days 
as  witness  before  a  general  court.  Higgins  was  a  pri 
vate  in  the  — d  Infantry  then,  and  had  known  him  a 
year.  Walters  was  in  the  Second  Cavalry  and  saw  him 
every  day  for  nearly  a  month.  He  has  grown  a  beard, 
sir,  but  I  can't  be  mistaken  in  him.  I  knew  him  the 
moment  I  set  eyes  on  him  last  night  driving  Boynton's 
team." 

Truscott  turned  again  to  the  prisoner. 

"  If  you  were  not  in  the  service  at  Fort  Steele  you 
will  certainly  be  able  to  establish  an  alibi.  It  is  my 
duty  to  hold  you  until  the  commanding  officer  ex- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  217 

amines  the  case.  You  will  probably  have  an  oppor 
tunity  of  seeing  him  inside  of  half  an  hour.  If  your 
name  is  not  Howell,  what  is  it  ?" 

"  My  name's — well,  no  matter  what  my  name  is ;  I 
don't  care  to  have  it  appear  on  a  guard-house  list. 
You'll  know  what  it  is  soon  enough  after  I  see  my 
lawyer." 

"  Is  there  any  one  in  town  by  whom  you  can  prove 
the  sergeant  to  be  mistaken  ?"  asked  the  captain,  calmly 
ignoring  the  threatening  manner  of  the  prisoner.  "  I 
can  probably  save  time  for  you  by  sending  one  of  my 
men  for  him." 

"  There's  one  nearer  than  town  that'll  stand  my 
friend,"  was  the  answer. 

"  And  who  is  that  ?" 

"  Major  Granger." 

"  Indeed  !  Then  you  will  not  have  long  to  wait,  sir ; 
Major  Granger  will  be  out  here  this  morning." 

But  the  major  did  not  come.  At  noon  a  messenger 
rode  over  to  the  fort  with  a  note  to  the  colonel — a 
charmingly-worded  note,  in  which  Mrs.  Granger  in 
formed  the  commandant  of  the  post  that  her  husband 
had  caught  a  cold  and  was  advised  by  the  doctor  not  to 
leave  his  room  that  day,  and  then  she  took  occasion  to 
thank  him  and  dear  Mrs.  Atherton  for  the  delightful 
time  she  had  at  their  reception  after  the  play. 

The  colonel  sent  for  the  alleged  deserter  and  ques 
tioned  him  in  the  presence  of  the  three  troopers  by 
whom  he  had  been  recognized.  He  stoutly  protested 
that  it  was  a  case  of  mistaken  identity.  The  three  men 
as  positively  declared  it  could  not  be.  Atherton 
pondered  a  moment. 

K  19 


218  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Well,  sir,  it  appears  to  be  three  to  one  against 
you,"  he  finally  said,  "and  Major  Granger  cannot 
come.  If  you  see  fit  to  write  him  a  note  telling  him 
of  your  predicament  I  will  send  it  at  once.  If  he 
knows  you,  as  you  claim,  he  can  at  least  send  a  message 
to  that  effect.  Will  you  write?'7 

The  stranger  looked  furtively  about  him  a  moment, 
his  eyes  roving  from  window  to  window  as  though  he 
longed  to  make  a  dash  for  one  of  them.  Carmody 
noted  it  and  edged  a  little  to  his  right,  so  as  to  interpose 
his  sturdy  frame  between  the  man  and  any  possibility 
of  escape.  The  guard,  too,  a  wiry  little  trooper, 
gripped  his  carbine  tighter  and  took  a  single  step 
forward. 

"  If  I  write,  it's  to  Major  Granger ;  nobody  else  is 
to  read  it,"  was  the  answer  that  came. 

"  Nobody  desires  to,"  was  the  colonel's  reply.  "  Mr. 
Billings,  let  this  man  sit  at  the  sergeant-major's  desk 
and  write  his  note,  and  send  a  mounted  orderly 
with  it." 

At  three  o'clock,  when  the  orderly  got  back,  he  had 
ridden  in  the  teeth  of  a  rising  gale ;  the  sky  was  over 
cast  ;  the  snow  began  to  drive  again.  The  soldier  dis 
mounted  opposite  the  colonel's  gate  and  threw  the  reins 
over  the  post ;  his  horse  instantly  swung  his  haunches 
around  to  meet  the  blast,  and,  with  bowed  head  and  his 
long  black  tail  blowing  between  his  legs,- stood  cower 
ing  before  the  storm.  Atherton  himself  received  the 
note  at  the  door,  read  it,  and  sent  for  the  officer  of  the 
guard. 

"  Mr.  Royce"  he  said,  "  tell  that  prisoner  Howell 
that  Major  Granger  denies  all  knowledge  of  him. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  219 

And  if  this  storm  increases,  take  in  all  your  sentries 
except  those  at  the  guard-house  and  stables  at  four 
o'clock.  I  will  notify  the  officer  of  the  day." 

At  four  o'clock  the  snow  was  driving  like  a  dense 
white  cloud  straight  across  the  parade  and  down 
towards  the  east  gate.  It  was  all  the  men  could  do  to 
make  headway  up  the  hill  coming  back  from  the  stables. 
At  retreat  one  could  not  see  objects  twenty  feet  away  ; 
one  could  not  breathe  facing  the  gale ;  no  man  could 
stand  up  unaided  against  it,  and  the  roar  of  the  blast 
was  like  that  of  a  tornado.  At  9.30  the  orderly  trum 
peter  poked  the  bell  of  his  instrument  out  through  the 
door-way  of  the  adjutant's  office  and  sounded  tattoo; 
but  no  one  heard  except  the  sergeant-major.  All  mili 
tary  duties  had  been  suspended,  as  though  by  tacit  con 
sent.  The  colonel  sent  no  word,  for  his  orderly  simply 
could  not  have  made  his  way  around  the  garrison.  It 
was  time  for  the  second  relief  of  the  guard  to  be  posted 
at  10.30,  and  Royce  told  the  corporal  to  take  two 
men  down  to  the  stables  and  stay  there  with  the  old 
sentries  all  night.  It  was  easy  enough  to  scud  before 
the  gale,  but  impossible  to  get  back.  The  sentries  at 
the  guard-house  and  stables  had  been  drawn  inside  be 
fore  dark.  Many  of  the  guard  had  gone  without  their 
supper  rather  than  attempt  to  make  their  way  against 
the  hurricane  to  the  barracks,  not  more  than  a  hundred 
yards  from  them.  It  was  a  blizzard  of  the  fiercest 
description.  "  No  man,"  said  Royce,  "  could  live  out 
doors  in  so  fearful  a  storm."  And  yet,  in  the  midst  of 
it  all,  somewhere  about  twelve  at  night,  the  cry  went 
up  at  the  guard-house  that  the  prisoner  Howell  had 
escaped.  He  was  gone,  no  one  knew  how  or  where. 


220  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

To  say  that  Mr.  Royce  was  deeply  concerned  at  the 
loss  of  his  prisoner  is  putting  it  very  mildly.  In  view 
of  the  possible  doubt  in  the  case,  the  colonel  had 
decided  not  to  confine  the  man  in  the  cells.  He  was 
given  a  place  to  sleep,  and  plenty  of  warm  blankets,  in 
what  was  known  as  the  garrison  prisoners'  room  on  the 
east  side  of  the  building.  A  big  coal-stove  stood  in 
the  middle  of  the  large  bare  apartment  and  a  wooden 
shelf  or  bunk  extended  around  two  adjacent  sides.  A 
single  window  at  the  east  gave  light  to  the  room  in  the 
day-time,  a  swinging  lantern  at  night.  The  members 
of  the  guard  were  gathered  in  a  big  room  separated 
from  this  one  only  by  a  thin  partition  of  boards,  and 
most  of  them  after  nine  o'clock  were  soundly  sleeping. 
Mr.  Royce  was  in  the  office,  as  it  was  called,  a  little 
box  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  subaltern  commanding 
the  guard.  It  was  boarded  off  on  the  ground  floor  of 
a  tower-like  structure  that  stood  across  the  road  in 
front  of  the  guard-house  and  just  at  the  edge  of  the 
parade.  He  was  sprawled  at  full  length  on  an  iron 
bunk,  rolled  in  his  buffalo-robe  and  blankets,  when  the 
sergeant  of  the  guard  burst  without  ceremony  into  the 
dimly  lighted  room — blown  in  actually  by  the  gale. 
He  was  almost  exhausted  by  the  effort  to  cross  that 
twenty-yard  space.  As  soon  as  he  could  recover  breath 
he  gasped, — 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  221 

"  Lieutenant,  that  man  HowelPs  got  away  !" 

Royce  bounded  to  his  feet,  pulled  his  fur  cap  down 
over  his  ears  and  eyes,  and  then,  grasping  hands,  the 
two  men  plunged  out  into  the  thick  of  the  tempest. 
So  dense  was  the  driving  snow  that  the  lights  in  the 
guard-house  window  could  not  be  distinguished.  The 
very  first  stride  took  Royce  off  his  feet,  and,  but  for  the 
firm  clasp  of  the  big  trooper,  he  would  have  been 
blown  like  a  chip  down  the  howling  path  of  the  storm. 
Bending  double,  they  pushed  across  the  hard,  dry  road 
way  swept  clear  of  snow  by  the  force  of  the  gale,  the 
sergeant  edging  a  little  to  the  windward  and  towing  his 
slight  but  plucky  commander  under  his  wing,  and 
presently  they  were  whirled  up  against  the  wooden 
portico  and  drawn  inside  by  alert  members  of  the 
guard,  every  one  of  whom  was  now  awake  and  excited. 
The  sentry,  pacing  the  corridor  in  front  of  the  prison 
room,  threw  his  carbine  to  "  arms  port"  as  Royce 
panted  his  first  question. 

"  Indeed,  sir,  I'm  as  innocent  of  his  escape  as  the 
babe  unborn.  You  couldn't  hear  a  thing,  sir,  but  the 
roar  of  the  storm  ;  and  the  lamp  was  so  dim  I  couldn't 
see  anything  going  on." 

Royce  kicked  open  the  grated  door- way  and  went  in. 
The  two  garrison  prisoners  who  were  confined  awaiting 
trial  started  to  roll  out  of  their  blankets  and  stand 
attention.  "  Lie  still,  you  men,"  said  the  officer  of  the 
guard,  for,  despite  the  big  stove  nearly  red-hot  at  the 
globe,  the  bitter  cold  came  driving  through  every 
cranny  and  chink,  and  a  big  mound  of  snow  had 
already  formed  under  the  open  window.  Where 
Howeli  had  made  his  roost  for  the  night  the  blankets 

19* 


222  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

were  artistically  rolled  so  as  to  look  as  though  a  man 
were  still  there,  but  one  bar  at  the  aperture  had  been 
sawed  through,  two  others  bent  back ;  the  glass  was 
cut  out  without  so  much  as  a  jagged  point  anywhere.  It 
was  all  the  work  of  an  expert,  and  not  a  trace  had  he 
left  behind.  The  two  prisoners  solemnly  declared  they 
were  sound  asleep  and  never  knew  that  he  had  gone 
until  aroused  by  the  cold  and  snow ;  then  they  had 
promptly  informed  the  sentry.  Royce  turned  abruptly 
and  made  his  way  to  the  porch  through  the  groups  of 
eager  and  excited  men,  and,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
was  whisked  by  the  blast  to  the  east  side.  Already  the 
snow  was  banked  to  a  height  of  eight  feet,  and  had 
reached  the  sill  of  the  square  window  through  which 
the  man  had  forced  his  way.  Every  trace  was  obliter 
ated,  all  was  utter  darkness  ten  feet  from  the  building, 
all  a  mad  whirl  of  wind  and  snow.  It  was  useless  to 
pursue ;  it  was  impossible  to  notify  either  the  com 
manding  officer  or  the  officer  of  the  day.  A  stalwart 
corporal  who  essayed  to  cross  the  parade  was  speedily 
overcome  and  blown  down  to  the  quarters  of  "  B"  troop, 
where  he  gladly  took  refuge  for  the  rest  of  the  night. 
When  morning  came  the  gale  was  at  its  height,  the 
storm  of  snow  dense  and  impenetrable.  The  roadway 
and  the  parade  were  swept  clean,  but  the  lee  side  of 
every  building  was  banked  to  the  eaves  in  solid  drifts. 
Not  a  trumpet  call  was  sounded,  for  none  could  have 
been  heard.  Communication  with  town  was  impossible, 
for  the  telegraph  wires  were  down.  The  first  sergeants 
of  the  various  troops  picked  out  a  squad  of  three 
or  four  stout  men,  loaded  them  with  bread  and  bacon, 
and  sent  them  scudding  before  the  gale  clown  to  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  223 

stables  in  the  valley,  with  orders  to  stay  and  help  the 
orderlies  there.  The  officer  of  the  day,  bending  double 
and  pulling  himself  along  the  picket  fence  hand  over 
hand  a  couple  of  rods  at  a  time,  and  then  turning  his 
back  to  the  storm  to  recover  breath,  managed,  after  ten 
minutes'  hard  work,  to  reach  the  colonel's  quarters,  not 
a  hundred  yards  from  his  own.  The  drifts  were  now 
on  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  piazza,  but  he  managed 
to  communicate  with  his  chief.  He  did  not  know  of 
Howell's  escape.  It  was  manifestly  impossible  to 
mount  another  guard,  and  Captain  Turner  was  told  to 
consider  himself  and  his  men  on  duty  for  another  day, 
although  no  actual  duty  could  be  performed.  The 
colonel's  orderly,  who  had  been  relieved  at  retreat  the 
previous  evening,  had  not  gone  to  the  troop  barracks  at 
all,  but  slept  in  the  kitchen.  He  was  sure  he  could 
reach  the  guard-house  all  right,  and  so  was  sent  with  a 
note  to  Lieutenant  Royce.  He  had  no  difficulty  in 
starting,  for  the  wind  was  blowing  straight  towards  the 
tower,  but  he  never  could  have  stopped  but  for  the 
merciful  interposition  of  Providence  and  the  guard 
house,  against  which  structure  he  was  flattened  out  in 
the  course  of  a  minute,  with  hardly  a  sound  bone,  and 
certainly  not  a  gasp  of  breath,  left  in  his  body.  Royce 
and  the  sergeant  lugged  him  in  and  brought  him 
around  by  dint  of  some  vigorous  slapping  and  rubbing, 
but  there  was  no  such  thing  as  getting  him  to  try  the 
back  trip.  A  woman  was  ill  down  among  the  laun 
dresses'  quarters  under  the  bluff,  and  the  assistant  sur 
geon,  being  anxious  on  her  account,  left  his  quarters 
and  strove  to  make  his  way  around  by  the  east  gate 
and  the  line  of  storehouses.  He  had  no  difficulty  in 


224  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

reaching  the  gate,  but  narrowly  escaped  being  blown 
beyond  and  out  on  the  wild  prairie.  Clinging  to  the 
fence,  he  crept  until  he  reached  the  commissary  store 
house,  which  was  banked  to  the  roof  at  the  gable  end  ; 
but  he  managed  to  bang  at  the  side  window  of  the 
office  and  was  hauled  in  by  the  sergeant  and  his  clerk. 
No  one  else  ventured  abroad.  All  that  day,  all  the 
following  night,  the  storm  raged  in  fury.  The  back 
yards  of  the  officers'  quarters  were  filled  with  lowing 
cattle,  driven  before  the  blast  from  the  ranges  to  the 
northwest,  while  hundreds  more,  unable  to  reach  even 
such  a  port,  were  whirled  along  to  the  refuge  of  the  town 
itself.  The  frail  frame  houses  rocked  and  swayed  as 
though  any  moment  they  might  be  torn  from  their 
anchorage  and  sent  scattering  through  space,  a  cloud 
of  drift-wood,  clapboards,  and  shingles,  and  women 
and  children,  in  not  a  few  of  them,  clung  together  in 
dread  and  terror.  Not  until  forty-eight  hours  after  it 
began  did  the  hurricane  show  the  faintest  sign  of  abate 
ment,  and  then  the  troopers  turned  out ;  tunnels  were 
dug  under  the  drifts  into  the  colonel's  house  and  the 
adjutant's  office.  The  second-story  windows  in  many 
cases  were  used  as  means  of  egress  by  the  occupants  of 
the  quarters  along  the  row,  and,  by  devious  ways  and 
many  a  detour,  the  garrison  tramped  around  to  the 
stables,  to  find  the  horses  on  the  west  side  of  the  gang 
ways  standing  three  feet  higher  than  usual  on  ramps 
of  snow  which  they  had  trodden  solid  as  it  sifted  in, 
but  otherwise  apparently  well  content  with  the  situ 
ation.  They  had  had  plenty  to  eat  and  were  not 
troubled  with  thirst.  It  was  then  that  the  colonel  for 
the  first  time  heard  of  the  escape  of  the  prisoner 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  225 

Howell.  He  had  now  been  gone  some  forty  hours,  and 
search  or  pursuit  was  useless.  The  snow  had  ceased 
entirely  by  retreat,  and  the  order  was  given  that  the 
entire  command  should  turn  out  on  fatigue  duty  in  the 
morning,  equipped  with  shovels  and  any  tools  that 
could  be  utilized  in  clearing  away  the  drifts. 

And  so,  on  the  third  day  after  the  famous  theatri 
cals,  the  officers  were  gathered  together  for  a  comparison 
of  notes  and  jocular  greetings  of  one  another  after  the 
enforced  separation,  and  the  colonel  was  standing  the 
centre  of  a  laughing,  chatting,  jolly  group  down  in  the 
creek  valley,  while  the  snow  was  being  pitched  out  of 
the  stalls,  when,  winding  his  way  among  the  drifts 
and  slowly  nearing  them,  a  horseman  was  seen  coming 
along  the  edge  of  the  bluff.  At  last  he  reached  the 
party,  and  was  recognized  as  an  employe"  at  the  depot. 
Without  a  word,  he  handed  the  colonel  a  note,  which 
the  latter  opened  and  read. 

It  was  a  characteristic  of  Atherton's  that  he  never 
gave  evidence  by  any  word  or  sign  of  the  nature  of  the 
information  conveyed  to  him  in  this  way.  He  read  it, 
evidently,  twice  over,  deliberately  refolded  and  handed 
it  to  his  adjutant,  and  then  turned  to  the  bearer: 

"  Have  they  inquired  everywhere  in  town  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  everywhere,  every  place  the  major  ever 
went  to,  and  men  have  been  to  every  ranch  and  shack 
anywhere  around  us ;  no  one  has  seen  anything  of  him 
since  five  o'clock  Wednesday  afternoon." 

"  Have  they  inquired  all  over  the  depot — in  every 
employees  house?" 

"Every  one, sir,  and  all  the  stables  have  been  searched, 
and  storehouses.  He  didn't  take  out  his  horses  at  all ; 


226  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

they  are  there  yet.  Reilly  was  the  last  man  who  seen 
him,  sir.  He  told  Reilly  at  five  o'clock  that  he  might 
have  to  drive  to  town  despite  the  storm,  and  told  him 
to  be  ready  in  case  he  sent  for  him,  but  he  never  sent." 

The  laughter  and  chat  among  the  officers  had  ceased. 
All  were  listening  in  silence  to  this  significant  colloquy. 
The  colonel  pondered  for  a  moment. 

u  I  will  have  an  answer  ready  in  quarter  of  an  hour, 
if  you  can  wait,"  he  said.  "  Gentlemen,  Major  Granger 
has  disappeared.  He  has  not  been  seen  since  five 
o'clock  Wednesday  ;  but  I  trust  he  is  only  storrn-bound 
somewhere  near  us.  Captain  Freeman,  you  spoke  of 
sending  a  man  up  to  Bryan's  ranch  to  get  some  things 
for  Nannie ;  I  wish  to  send  a  note  by  him,  if  you  will 
direct  him  to  report  to  me.  Captain  Truscott,  if  you 
can  conveniently  do  so,  I  wish  you  would  ride  down 
and  see  Mrs.  Granger  and  inquire  how  we  can  be  of 
service  to  her.  Mrs.  Atherton  will  go  just  as  soon  as 
we  can  find  a  road  for  an  ambulance."  And  so 
saying,  and  with  a  gesture  which  called  his  adjutant  to 
his  side,  the  colonel  strode  away. 

Truscott  turned  towards  his  troop  stable  to  order  a 
horse,  and  Mr.  Ray  followed,  saying  not  a  word. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  it,  major?"  presently  asked 
Mr.  Carroll  of  Stannard. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know ;  he's  probably  in  town  some 
where,  sick.  He  had  a  cold  on  Wednesday  and  has 
increased  it." 

"  Then  you  think  he'll  turn  up  all  right,  do  you  ?" 
pursued  Mr.  Carroll,  when  the  major  turned  away  as 
though  unwilling  to  speak  further  upon  the  subject. 
"  Well,  I'd  just  like  to  bet  Billy  Ray  doesn't  think  so, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  227 

and  that  if  his  brother-in-law,  Rallston,  were  here  there 
would  be  a  different  theory. 

"  You  be  blowed,  Carroll !"  was  the  impatient  re 
tort  of  one  of  his  fellows.  "  You're  forever  dreaming 
melodrama." 

But  when  Captain  Truscott  returned  from  his  mission 
soon  after  dark  and  reported  the  result  to  the  colonel, 
the  latter  ordered  an  ambulance  sent  up  from  the  quar 
termaster's  corral,  and  he  and  Mrs.  Atherton,  bundled 
in  robes  and  furs,  were  driven  away  to  the  depot, 
guided  by  a  couple  of  mounted  men  who  carried  hur 
ricane  lamps. 

The  train  from  the  East  was  several  hours  late  on 
Sunday,  but  Atherton  was  in  town  at  the  station  to 
meet  a  staff-officer  from  department  head-quarters,  and 
together  they  drove  out  to  the  depot,  where  Mrs.  Granger 
by  this  time  was  reported  seriously  ill,  as  the  result  of 
nervousness  and  anxiety.  Her  friend  Mrs.  Morris  had 
come  out  from  town,  bringing  with  her  a  trained  nurse, 
and  Mrs.  Atherton  had  returned  to  her  home  at  the 
post,  and  was  compelled  by  one  lady  friend  after  another 
to  detail  her  experiences  in  the  house  of  mourning. 
There  was  little  to  tell,  despite  the  intricate  system  of 
cross-examination.  Mrs.  Granger  could  only  say  that 
after  receiving  the  ill-looking  note  brought  down  by  a 
mounted  man  from  the  fort,  the  major  had  insisted  on 
getting  up  and  writing  a  reply ;  that  then  he  refused 
to  lie  down  again,  and  presently  had  dressed  and  gone 
over  to  his  office  ;  had  returned  to  his  room  for  perhaps 
twenty  minutes,  during  which  time  she  had  not  seen 
him,  and  then,  before  she  knew  his  purpose,  he  had 
gone  forth  again  ;  this  time  in  the  teeth  of  the  gale. 


228  CAPTAIN  BLAKE, 

Reilly  had  seen  him  at  five  o'clock,  and  no  one  after 
wards.  It  had  grown  very  dark  before  six. 

Meantime,  Colonel  Rand,  of  the  staff,  was  busily 
turning  over  books,  papers,  examining  the  stubs  of 
check-books,  etc.,  in  Granger's  private  office,  and  on 
Monday  he  came  up  to  the  fort  and  sent  for  Sergeant 
Carmody,  and  Troopers  Higgins  and  Walker.  He 
wanted  an  accurate  description  of  the  man  Howell. 
He  also  got  from  the  girl  Annie  a  photograph  of  the 
English  driver,  Grimsby ;  and  with  these  he  started 
for  Denver,  after  having  carefully  sealed  the  major's 
papers  and  locked  them  in  a  safe  of  which  he  kept  the 
key.  All  this,  of  course,  was  soon  noised  abroad,  and 
a  thousand  theories  and  speculations  were  rife.  Several 
of  the  ladies  went  down  to  call  at  the  depot  and  tender 
sympathy  and  condolence,  but  Mrs.  Granger  was  now 
— so  said  Mrs.  Morris — too  ill  to  see  anybodv. 

Late  Monday  afternoon  the  Laramie  stage,  instead 
of  keeping  the  direct  road  to  town,  was  descried  coming 
in  towards  the  garrison.  The  officers  were  just  stroll 
ing  up  from  stables ;  the  driver  tossed  a  note  to  the 
foremost  group,  and,  without  slackening  speed,  whirled 
off  to  the  left,  and  the  old  red  rattle-trap  went  rumbling 
and  clattering  off  across  the  prairie.  The  note  was  to 
Freeman  from  Blake.  The  blizzard  had  struck  them 
at  Lodgepole  Creek  and  compelled  them  to  stay  there 
under  shelter  until  Saturday  morning — barely  a  few 
hours'  brisk  ride  from  the  fort.  Then  they  had  pushed 
on  to  the  Chugwater,  Eagle's  Nest,  and  to  Laramie, 
where  he  had  to  go  for  rations,  instead  of  taking  the 
shorter  route  to  Fetterman,  as  had  been  his  intention. 
The  up-stage  which  passed  them  Sunday  brought  strange 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  229 

tidings  about  Major  Granger;  what  did  it  mean? 
"  Wire  the  latest  news  to  Fetterman  to  meet  me  Tues 
day  night  or  Wednesday  morning." 

And  all  that  Freeman  could  telegraph  when  Tuesday 
came  was,  that  Major  Granger  was  still  missing,  and 
Mrs.  Granger — he  saw  fit  to  add — was  overwhelmed 
with  grief  and  anxiety.  Every  effort  had  been  made 
to  find  the  missing  officer  meantime.  A  big  force  of 
men  had  levelled  and  searched  through  drift  after  drift 
at  the  depot,  and  now  were  exploring  in  the  creek 
valley  beyond.  No  trains  had  left  the  station  in  town, 
going  in  any  direction,  between  4  P.M.  Wednesday 
and  early  Saturday  morning,  so  he  could  not  have  gone 
away.  The  police,  the  detectives,  a  number  of  brother 
officers,  and  a  corps  of  enterprising  amateurs  had  all 
been  engaged  in  the  search,  but  to  no  avail.  Blake 
telegraphed  again  from  Fetterman  on  Wednesday,  re 
porting  that  he  was  just  starting  for  the  cantonment  on 
Powder  River,  begging  that  any  news  might  be  sent 
him  by  wire  as  far  as  it  could  go ;  and  this  message, 
coming  to  the  house  while  Freeman  was  down  at  stables, 
was  opened  by  his  bonny  wife,  who  sighed  as  she  turned 
and  placed  it  on  the  mantel-shelf,  and  then  went  into 
the  dining-room  where  "  Prairie  Nan"  was  reading 
aloud  to  the  children,  and  bent  down  and  kissed  her. 

Snow  disappears  with  singular  rapidity  on  the 
plateaus  and  ridges  of  those  high  slopes  to  the  east  of 
the  Rockies ;  it  is  only  in  the  ravines  and  couUes  that 
the  drifts  are  so  heavy  as  to  withstand  for  a  time  the 
combined  forces  of  the  sun  and  the  breeze.  A  week 
after  the  great  storm  began  almost  every  vestige  had 
faded  from  the  prairie  and  around  the  buildings  of  the 

20 


230  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

supply  depot,  where  the  drifts  had  been  levelled  in  the 
process  of  the  search.  Up  at  the  fort  huge  mounds 
still  stood  on  the  east  side  of  many  of  the  quarters. 
People  rather  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  pointing  them 
out,  with  their  tunnels,  to  curious  visitors  from  town  ; 
and,  down  in  the  creek  valley,  a  narrow  curving  rift  in 
the  bald  prairie,  the  snow  was  solid  in  every  cross 
ravine,  and  heaped  in  massive  hillocks  at  every  turn 
and  behind  every  projecting  shoulder  of  bluff.  The 
entire  garrison  at  the  fort  had  worked  hard  for  a  couple 
of  days  in  dumping  the  snow  out  of  the  stables  and 
in  cleaning  up  generally.  Then  came  forty-eight  hours 
of  clear  skies  and  moonlit  nights,  and  then,  more 
snow. 

It  was  Wednesday  night.  Freeman  and  Ray  had 
been  having  a  long  talk  in  the  latter's  quarters,  and  it 
was  all  about  Blake,  whose  telegram  from  Fetterman 
had  arrived  that  day,  and  of  Granger,  of  whom  no 
tidings  had  been  received  at  all.  With  all  his  love  for 
Blake,  no  one  had  more  sincerely  rejoiced  in  the  order 
that  sent  him  far  to  the  north  than  his  once  reckless 
boon  companion,  the  Kentuckian ;  but  so  loyal  was  he 
to  his  friend  that,  though  he  trusted  Freeman  and 
thoroughly  respected  him,  he  would  say  no  word  that 
might  lead  the  captain  to  infer  that  Blake's  infatuation 
for  Granger's  beautiful  wife  had  ever  been  a  subject 
of  comment  between  them.  But  it  had  ;  and  a  very 
serious  talk  it  proved,  though  Blake  took  his  comrade's 
hand  and  wrung  it  hard  as  they  parted.  Ray  had 
been  up  to  see  him  start  with  his  little  command  and 
had  ridden  out  a  mile  or  so  with  him,  so  as  to  be  the 
last  to  say  good-by.  Now  he  listened  silently  to  what 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  231 

Freeman  had  to  say  on  the  subject,  and,  when  the  cap 
tain  finally  bade  him  good-night,  Ray  followed  to  the 
door. 

Through  the  veil  of  softly-falling  snow  the  moon 
light  was  diffused,  cold  and  dim,  yet  of  sufficient 
strength  to  reveal  the  outlines  and  shadows  of  the 
barracks,  and  to  render  moving  objects  visible  across 
the  parade.  Glancing  aloft,  Ray  could  even  see  where 
hung  the  silver  shield,  peering  through  the  fleecy 
clouds.  A  light  mantle,  glistening  white,  was  spread 
over  the  ground.  The  sentries  had  just  called  off 
eleven  o'clock  as  Freeman  held  out  his  hand  : 

"  You  have  rather  a  better  night  for  your  rounds 
than  Turner  had  a  week  ago,  Billy." 

"  Yes,  I  hope  I'll  have  better  luck,  too.  Fancy 
losing  a  prisoner  on  that  night  of  all  others.  I  wonder 
what  became  of  that  fellow." 

"  Can't  say.  There  was  no  one  to  interfere  with  his 
going  wherever  he  wanted  to. — Good-night,  old  man  ; 
pleasant  dreams. — Oh,  when  you  inspect,  just  poke 
your  head  into  my  stable,  will  you,  and  see  if  Sergeant 
Jaruieson's  back.  He's  been  a  little  demoralized  since 
that  storm." 

"So  Royce  was  telling  me." 

"  Yes ;  he  claimed  to  know  something  about  the 
drivers  who  started  the  row  at  the  stables  the  night  of 
the  play,  and  I  gave  him  a  pass  for  town  the  next 
morning;  there  he  was  storm-bound  until  Friday 
night,  but  he  didn't  come  home  until  Saturday  morning. 
I  could  see  he  had  been  drinking,  but  he  worked  so 
well  clearing  out  the  stables  that  I  said  nothing.  He 
got  another  pass  from  retreat  to  reveille  for  to-night, 


232  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

but  told  me  he'd  be  home  by  one  o'clock.  He  went 
mounted." 

"All  right,  captain,  I'll  look  after  him." 

And  so  saying,  Mr.  Ray  went  back  to  the  letter 
which  he  was  blissfully  writing  when  Freeman  came 
in.  This  finished,  he  scrawled  a  few  lines  which  he 
addressed  to  a  Mr.  Rallston,  Omaha,  and  had  just 
betaken  himself  to  his  big  arm-chair,  with  the  idea  of 
having  a  snooze  before  sallying  forth  to  visit  the  guard 
and  sentries,  when  there  came  a  heavy  step  upon  the 
porch  and  a  rap  at  the  door.  It  was  a  corporal  of  the 
guard  who  entered  at  his  call. 

"The  officer  of  the  guard's  compliments,  sir,  and 
Corporal  Buck,  just  in  from  pass,  says  he  saw  a  wagon 
with  two  men  driving  away  from  the  magazine,  and  he 
thinks  they've  robbed  it." 

"  Say  I'll  be  over  in  a  minute,  and  tell  my  stable  ser 
geant  to  have  Dandy  saddled  and  sent  up  to  the  guard 
house  at  once,"  answered  Ray,  as  he  pulled  on  his 
spurred  riding-boots.  Two  minutes  more  and  he  was 
speeding  across  the  parade. 

The  lights  were  out  at  the  colonel's  quarters  and  at 
most  of  those  along  the  row.  There  was  no  use  in  dis 
turbing  anybody,  and  Ray  decided  to  act  on  his  own 
responsibility  in  the  matter.  He  was  the  senior  lieu 
tenant  of  the  regiment,  commanding  Captain  Boston's 
troop  in  the  prolonged  absence  of  that  officer.  The  six 
troop  commanders  were  performing  officer-of-the-day 
duty,  while  the  subalterns,  though  more  numerous, 
took  their  turns  as  officer  of  the  guard — a  more  exacting 
service,  as,  except  when  visiting  sentries,  they  were  re 
quired  to  remain  at  the  tower  night  and  day.  A  vast 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  233 

quantity  of  ordnance  stores,  arms,  ammunition,  and 
equipments  of  every  kind  had  been  sent  to  the  fort  dur 
ing  and  after  the  Sioux  campaign,  the  officials  of  that 
most  level-headed  department  finding  it  far  easier  to 
ship  in  bulk  from  the  great  arsenal  in  the  East  to  that 
distant  point,  and  saddle  the  labor  and  responsibility  of 
their  distribution  upon  some  poor  devil  of  a  cavalry 
adjutant,  already  heavily  burdened.  When  enough 
ammunition  had  been  gathered  there  to  blow  the  whole 
post  to  flinders,  the  colonel  refused  to  allow  it  to  be 
kept  in  the  garrison  storehouses.  "  It  would  simply 
stultify  the  efforts  of  the  men  in  case  of  fire,"  he  said, 
and  he  was  perfectly  right.  A  mile  from  the  fort,  out 
on  the  edge  of  the  creek  valley  and  near  the  big  supply 
depot,  stood  a  brick  magazine.  Thither  had  this  great 
stack  of  ammunition  been  transported,  and  there  for  a 
time,  night  and  day,  had  a  corporal  and  three  men  of 
the  guard  been  stationed.  But  the  colonel  would  not 
subject  his  men  to  the  bitter  suffering  of  such  duty  in  such 
weather,  and,  as  their  tent  had  been  blown  away  by  the 
gale,  and  they  themselves  landed,  battered,  breathless, 
and  half  frozen,  among  the  storehouses  at  the  depot, 
he  refused  to  renew  the  guard. 

In  ten  minutes  Mr.  Ray  was  loping  eastward  through 
the  lightly-falling  snow,  and  presently  Dandy  pulled 
up  in  front  of  the  lonely  little  structure  at  the  edge  of 
the  bluff.  One  glance  revealed  the  truth.  The  door 
of  boiler-iron  had  been  wrenched  from  its  hinges  with 
crowbars  and  now  hung  by  the  huge  padlock ;  the  vault- 
like  interior  was  gaping  open  to  the  night ;  a  two-horse 
wagon  had  been  loaded  up  and  driven  away,  and, 
never  hesitating  a  moment,  Ray  sped  eastward,  again 

20* 


234  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

following  the  fast  disappearing  tracks.  In  quarter  of  an 
hour  they  would  be  snowed  under  completely.  Around 
and  to  the  north  of  the  great  quadrangle  of  the  depot 
they  led,  and  Dandy  bounded  in  pursuit,  rejoicing,  evi 
dently,  in  the  novelty  of  this  night  gallop  over  the 
prairie.  Straight  away  to  the  town  they  seemed  to 
lead,  once  clear  of  the  government  grounds,  and  in  less 
than  ten  minutes  more  Hay  went  cantering  in  through 
the  silent  streets  of  the  northwestern  suburbs  of  the 
frontier  city,  still  following  the  trail.  Twisting  around 
one  corner  after  another,  it  led  into  the  heart  of  the 
town,  and  here  the  lights  in  the  saloons,  the  strains  of 
bacchanalian  music,  the  shouts  of  midnight  revellers, 
and  the  frequent  passage  to  and  fro  of  rumbling  hacks, 
might  well  have  thrown  him  off  the  trail.  But  Ray 
had  his  own  suspicions,  and  two  blocks  farther  he  reined 
in  beside  a  two-story  frame  building,  on  the  lower  floor 
of  which  was  a  general  outfitting  shop  for  ranchmen, 
miners,  and  prospectors ;  and  though  all  was  dark  and 
apparently  deserted,  there  were  the  recent  tracks  of  a 
two-horse  wagon  that  had  driven  close  to  the  wooden 
sidewalk ;  there  were  the  marks  of  many  feet,  leading 
from  the  point  where  it  had  stood  to  a  gate- way  in  the 
high  wooden  fence  behind.  The  wagon  had  driven 
away  not  ten  minutes  before  he  came,  so  he  judged, 
and  even  as  he  sat  there  in  saddle  studying  the  situation, 
that  back  gate  was  slowly,  cautiously  opened,  and  a 
man's  head  appeared  one  instant,  was  withdrawn  with 
marvellous  speed,  and  rapid,  shuffling  footsteps  were 
heard  in  the  rear  of  the  store.  Quickly  Ray  touched 
Dandy  with  the  spur,  darted  around  to  the  front  of  the 
building,  just  in  time  to  see  a  man  throw  himself  into 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  235 

saddle  and  go  tearing  away  northward  fast  as  a  mettle 
some  horse  could  carry  him.  "  After  him,  boy  !"  was 
the  word ;  and  the  beautiful  sorrel  sped  like  a  deer  up 
the  almost  deserted  street,  and  in  a  moment  more  the 
two  were  racing  like  mad  over  the  snow-covered  prai 
rie,  the  leading  horseman  bending  low  over  the  pommel 
and  gradually  edging  in  a  long  sweeping  circle  around 
towards  the  eastern  side  of  the  town. 


236  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTEE    XVI. 

IT  was  barely  midnight  when,  after  brief  questioning 
of  the  corporal  who  had  reported  the  probable  robbery, 
and  a  few  words  to  Mr.  Carroll,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  guard,  Ray  had  ridden  out  across  the  snow- 
covered  prairie,  and  now  the  sentries  had  called  off 
half-past  one  o'clock  ;  he  had  not  returned,  and  Carroll 
began  to  grow  decidedly  anxious.  Carroll  was  not  a 
particularly  brilliant  officer,  and  in  days  gone  by  had 
seen  fit  to  ally  himself  with  the  little  clique  of  Ray- 
haters,  composed  of  the  lower  element  among  the  com 
missioned  officers  of  the  — th.  But  the  events  of  the 
summer,  especially  of  the  campaign,  had  so  firmly 
established  the  object  of  their  dislike  in  the  respect  and 
affection  of  the  regiment  generally,  that  Crane  was 
about  the  only  man  who  ever  ventured  to  display  a 
vestige  of  the  feeling  that  once  existed,  and,  as  for 
Carroll,  he  was  heartily  sorry  that  he  had  ever  been 
led  astray  by  the  sneers  and  innuendoes  of  the  men  who 
happened  to  be  his  earliest  associates  in  the  regiment. 
He  had  grown  to  look  upon  Ray  as  the  incarnation  of 
all  that  was  loyal,  daring,  and  soldierly,  and  secretly  he 
longed  for  some  way  of  showing  him  his  regret  for  the 
past  and  his  hope  for  the  future. 

But  Ray,  it  must  be  confessed,  was  not  an  easy  man 
to  "  make  up  to,"  as  he  himself  expressed  it.  He 
despised  Crane,  and  was  barely  civil  to  those  who  asso- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  237 

elated  with  him.  It  was  this  that  led  him  to  "  Mr." 
two  or  three  of  the  subalterns  on  all  occasions,  and 
never  to  admit  them  even  to  the  outer  court  of  com 
radeship,  much  less  to  that  of  intimacy.  In  civil  life, 
in  all  the  professions  or  avocations  which  do  not  confer 
a  distinctive  title  like  those  of  Judge  or  Doctor,  men 
who  desire  to  show  respect  to  or  for  their  associates 
rarely  fail  to  use  the  prefix  which  in  military  circles, 
here  or  abroad,  is  the  symbol  of  a  very  different  feeling. 
When  a  subaltern  officer  is  "  mistered"  by  his  comrades, 
it  simply  means  that  he  is  not  one  of  them.  Nothing 
would  induce  Ray  to  speak  to  Crane  in  any  other  way, 
and  as  Carroll  had  rather  cast  his  lot  with  that  luckless 
old  growler  in  by-gone  days,  he  was  now  finding  it  a 
difficult  matter  to  cut  loose.  Blake,  who  was  a  leader 
among  the  elder  subalterns,  Bob  Royce,  who  was  a 
leader  among  the  juniors,  Dana,  Hunter,  and  Hollis, 
who  was  everybody's  friend, — indeed,  Billings,  the 
adjutant,  and  Clark,  the  quartermaster,  had  begun  to 
be  cordial  to  Carroll  as  soon  as  he  showed  a  disposition 
to  drop  Crane  and  seek  their  companionship ;  but  Ray 
had  not  forgiven  it  that  the  young  man  had  seen  fit  to 
disregard  good  advice  which  he  himself  had  given  in 
Arizona,  and  had  clung  to  Crane  when  he  might  have 
been  with  better  men.  Even  on  this  night,  therefore, 
as  he  rode  away,  the  Kentuckian  was  cold  and  formal 
in  his  parting  words  :  "  I  may  be  gone  an  hour,  Mr. 
Carroll,  and  I  leave  you  in  charge,"  was  all  he  cared 
to  say.  But  now  he  had  been  gone  over  an  hour  and 
a  half.  The  snow  was  falling  thicker  and  thicker, 
utterly  obscuring  the  pallid  disk  of  the  moon,  and  the 
officer  of  the  guard,  pacing  restlessly  up  and  down  in 


238  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

front  of  the  tower,  began  to  wonder  if  he  ought  not  to 
go  and  arouse  the  colonel  and  tell  him  of  Ray's  pro 
longed  absence. 

Strictly  speaking,  he  knew  that  the  officer  of  the 
day  had  no  business  to  leave  the  post  at  all ;  but,  ex 
cept  on  dark  nights  or  very  snowy  ones,  that  magazine 
was  "  government  property  in  view"  of  the  sentry  at 
the  haystacks,  at  least,  and  was,  therefore,  within  the 
charge  of  the  guard.  He  did  not  doubt  that  the 
colonel  would  approve  Ray's  course  in  following  the 
trail  before  the  fast- falling  snow  could  obliterate  it  for 
ever,  but  he  himself  stood  in  so  much  awe  of  his  post 
and  regimental  commander  that  he  shrank  from  the 
idea  of  going  over  and  awaking  him  in  the  dead  of 
night  and  telling  him  the  officer  of  the  day  had  left  the 
garrison.  Two  o'clock  came  and  was  duly  called  off 
by  the  sentries,  and  in  the  hush  and  silence  of  the 
windless  night  even  the  cry  of  the  far-away  No.  7 — 
the  easternmost  post  of  all,  at  the  haystacks  down  the 
valley — sounded  clear  and  shrill  to  the  listening  ears 
on  the  bluff.  Carroll's  evident  anxiety  had  infected 
his  men,  and  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  with  the  cor 
poral  of  the  relief  on  post  and  one  or  two  troopers, 
stood  chatting  in  low  tones  under  the  shelter  of  the 
porch.  Finally  the  sergeant  stepped  briskly  across  the 
road,  and,  bringing  his  fur  gauntlet  in  salute  to  the 
barrel  of  his  carbine,  inquired, — 

"  I  beg  pardon,  sir,  but  did  the  lieutenant  go  armed  ?" 
"  He  wore  his  sabre,  sergeant,  and  I  presume  he  had 
his  revolver.     Mr.  Ray  has  had  too  much  experience 
on  the  frontier  to  undertake  anything  of  this  kind  with 
out  his  arms." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  239 

"  Well,  I  asked,  sir,  because  Corporal  Lenihan  says 
he  did  not  see  any  holster  on  his  belt,  and  a  man  would 
have  little  chance  with  any  of  that  gang  in  town  with 
out  his  gun.  The  men  say  that  the  magazine  was 
robbed  before  we  came,  and  there's  more  than  one  place 
in  town  where  they'll  buy  anything  that  can  be  stolen 
from  here  or  the  depot  either." 

"  I  can't  think  that  Mr.  Ray  has  got  into  trouble  of 
any  kind/'  answered  Carroll,  unwilling  to  allow  the 
men  to  see  how  disturbed  he  was.  "  He  would  hardly 
attempt  any  arrest  or  capture  without  calling  on  the 
police  for  help,  and  then  there  must  be  a  dozen  of  our 
men  in  on  pass  to-night,  and  they  generally  travel  in 
squads." 

"  Ay,  sir,  but  they  are  not  permitted  to  go  armed, 
whereas  every  tough  and  gambler  and  night  prowler 
has  a  knife  or  pistol  in  every  boot  or  sleeve  or  pocket. 
They  know  our  fellows  have  nothing  but  their  fists  to 
depend  on ;  that's  why  we  have  so  much  trouble. 
They'd  be  a  heap  more  respectful  if  we  were  allowed 
our  weapons.  Indeed,  sir,  I  wish  two  or  three  of  us 
might  ride  in  and  see  what's  become  of  the  lieutenant." 

But  this  was  more  than  Mr.  Carroll  felt  authorized 
to  allow  unless  backed  by  superior  authority.  He 
looked  helplessly  about  him  a  moment;  he  could  not 
make  up  his  mind  to  arouse  any  of  the  senior  officers 
of  the  garrison ;  they  were  all  married,  and  banging 
or  ringing  at  their  doors  would  certainly  disturb  the 
women  and  children.  Clark  was  a  bachelor,  and  he 
did  not  mind  routing  him  out,  and  he  knew  that  a  word 
would  send  him,  with  two  or  three  comrades  at  his 
heels,  galloping  townwards  in  search  of  Kay.  The 


240  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

mysterious  disappearance,  too,  of  Major  Granger  had 
had  its  effect  in  adding  to  the  fears  that  were  possessing 
him,  and  he  had  just  about  made  up  his  mind  to  stir 
up  the  bachelors'  roost  when  two  men  appeared  through 
the  snow,  their  fur  caps  and  heavy  coats  covered  with 
the  glistening  white  fleece,  and,  handing  their  passes 
to  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  reported  their  return. 

"Did  you  see  or  hear  anything  of  Lieutenant  Ray  ?" 
asked  Carroll. 

"  No,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  reply  of  both,  followed 
by  an  immediate  and  anxious  question  on  part  of  one 
of  them. 

"What's  wrong  with  the  lieutenant,  sir?  I'm 
Hogan,  his  l  striker/  '; 

"  Hogan  ?  Were  you  on  pass  ?  Well,  it's  two 
hours  since  the  lieutenant  heard  that  the  magazine  had 
been  robbed,  and  he  rode  away  to  investigate  it.  I'm 
afraid  he's  followed  the  trail  to  town." 

"  Then,  for  the  love  of  God,  sir,  let  me  get  a  horse 
and  go  after  him.  There  was  something  up,  and  I 
knowed  it  as  we  sat  there  in  the  Alhambra  taking  a 
drink,  sir.  There  was  three  men  a-sitting  at  a  table 
near  us,  and  presently  another  one  came  in  and  whis 
pered  to  them,  and  they  all  got  up  and  went  out  together 
in  a  hurry." 

"  What  time  was  this  ?" 

"  Soon  after  twelve  o'clock,  sir.  We  had  been  to  the 
show,  and  whin  'twas  over,  about  eleven,  Jerry  here, 
who  was  with  me,  saw  Sergeant  Jamieson  on  horseback 
going  up  a  side  street,  and  ran  after  him.  He  wanted 
to  borrow  a  dollar  till  pay-day;  and  while  I  was  waiting 
at  the  corner  two  men  comes  running  around,  and  one 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  241 

of  them  says,  '  That's  him  going  now/  and  the  other 
spoke  up  and  says,  i  Wait  till  that  damned  blue-belly 
gets  through  with  him.'  And  the  moment  I  heard  him 
speak  I  knowed  'twas  Grimsby, — him  that  used  to  drive 
for  Major  Granger, — and  I  was  for  speaking  to  him,  but 
the  moment  I  stepped  out  into  the  light  he  turned  and 
skipped  around  the  corner  where  there  was  a  buggy 
standing,  and  jumped  in  and  drove  off,  whipping  his 
horse ;  but  I  could  swear  it  was  him,  sir.  Sure  he 
used  to  come  to  our  quarters  all  the  time  by  the  back 
gate  with  letters  for  Loot'nint  Blake.  I  know  there's 
something  wrong,  sir,"  pleaded  Hogan,  his  honest  Irish 
face  filled  with  anxiety  and  distress.  "  Can't  I  ride  in 
with  two  or  three  of  the  boys  ?" 

"  May  I  ask  Jerry — this  other  man  here — a  question, 
sir?"  interposed  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  hurriedly. 

"  Certainly  ;  go  ahead." 

"  What  did  Sergeant  Jamieson  say  when  you  asked 
for  the  dollar,  Murphy  ?" 

"  Well,  furst  he  said  no,  he  had  no  money  to  lend ; 
but  then  I  told  him  Hogan  and  I  was  broke,  and  he 
said,  '  Is  Hogan  wid  you  ?'  says  he,  and  after  a  little 
palaver  he  gave  me  a  half-dollar  and  said  he  hadn't  any 
more,  but  he'd  lave  an  order  at  the  half-way  house  for 
ould  Peter  to  let  us  have  what  we  wanted  on  our  way 
home." 

"  Then  he  said  he  was  coming  right  back,  did  he  ?" 
questioned  Sergeant  Malloy,  significantly. 

"  He  did,  and  he  rode  off  at  wonst  like  he  was  going 
back  by  the  prairie  road." 

"  And  that's  the  way  you  came,  was  it  ? — out  by  the 
half-way  house  on  the  prairie  ?" 
L       q  21 


242  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  It  was.  Sure  we  had  his  word  for  it  that  we  was 
to  have  whatever  we  wanted  there,  but  divil  a  soul 
could  be  raised.  It  was  all  dark  and  locked  and 
barred,  and  nobody  would  come  to  us  but  the  dog." 

"  And  that's  how  you  came  to  come  home  sober,  was 
it,  Murphy  ?"  said  the  sergeant.  "  Well,  you  might 
have  known  better.  Sergeant  Jamieson  and  his  horse 
are  out  yet,  lieutenant ;  and  it's  my  belief — but  never 
mind,  sir,  I've  no  right  to  speak  so." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  What  are  you  driving  at?" 
queried  Carroll,  sharply,  as  the  other  men  stood  in 
wondering  silence. 

"  It's  just  this,  sir,"  and  the  Irishman  brought  his 
furred  gauntlet  down  with  resounding  whack  on  the 
butt  of  his  carbine.  "  That  cockney,  Sergeant  Jamie- 
son,  knows,  all  about  this  night's  work,  or  I'm  a  mutton- 
head." 

And  then,  before  another  word  could  be  said,  from 
far  down  the  creek  valley,  beyond  the  stables,  beyond 
the  haystacks,  there  came  the  faint,  sharp  crack  of  a 
pistol,  followed  presently  by  the  louder  report  of  a  car 
bine  and  the  shrill  cry  of  the  distant  sentry,  "  Corporal 
of  the  Gua-a-a-r-d,  Number  Seven  !"  In  an  instant 
the  members  of  the  guard  were  tumbling  out  of  their 
blankets  and  springing  for  the  door  in  response  to 
Malloy's  hoarse  shout,  "  Turn  out  the  guard  !"  In 
the  same  instant  Mr.  Carroll,  followed  fyy  the  corporal 
and  Hogan,  made  a  rush  for  the  edge  of  the  bluff  and 
went  bounding  down  into  the  dark,  snow-shrouded 
valley. 

But  it  was  a  long,  long  run,  and  men  bundled  in 
heavy  overcoats  and  furs,  their  feet  encased  in  cum- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  243 

brous  "  arctics"  over  cavalry  boots,  were  soon  wearied. 
The  corporal  gave  it  up  before  they  were  half-way 
along  the  line  of  stables,  and  Carroll  himself  was  pant 
ing  heavily,  while  Hogan,  unencumbered  with  belts  or 
accoutrements,  had  stripped  off  his  overcoat  and  thrown 
it  aside  as  he  ran,  and  was  now  speeding  far  ahead. 
The  sentry  on  No.  5  challenged  and  ordered  "  Halt !" 
but  Hogan  yelled  out  his  name  and  went  spinning 
along  through  the  snow  veil  to  the  utter  bewilderment 
of  the  guardsman.  The  next  moment  Carroll  stag 
gered  up  almost  exhausted. 

"Go  with  him,  No.  5,"  he  panted;  "there's  trouble 
there ;  Corporal  Lenihan  will  take  your  post." 

And  recognizing  the  officer  of  the  guard,  the  sentry 
promptly  darted  away  after  Hogan.  Meantime,  other 
shots  had  been  fired.  The  stable  orderly  at  the  corral, 
startled  from  a  doze  by  the  yell  of  the  nearest  sentry, 
heard  the  distant  crack  of  the  carbine,  and,  knowing 
that  to  be  the  signal  for  fire  or  immediate  danger, 
rushed  to  the  building  in  which  slept  the  quarter 
master's  men,  shouted  "  Fire !"  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
threw  open  the  doors  of  the  shed  in  which  the  hook- 
and  ladder  truck  was  kept  in  readiness,  and  the  next 
minute,  as  the  employes,  half  dressed,  came  tumbling 
down  into  the  night,  they  saw  the  dim  forms  of  two  or 
three  men  scudding  eastward  through  the  snow,  and 
out  rolled  the  light,  rattling  truck  and  went  spinning 
after  them  fast  as  a  dozen  stalwart  men  could  pull. 
The  shout  of  fire  was  heard  by  the  sentry  at  the  store 
houses  on  the  bluff,  who  promptly  let  drive  a  shot  in 
mid-air  and  echoed  the  cry  ;  so  did  the  sentry  over  be 
hind  officers'  row ;  the  trumpeter  of  "  B"  Troop  was 


244  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

dragged  out  of  bed  by  a  leather-lunged  sergeant,  who 
ordered  him  to  hustle  out  there  and  sound  the  fire  call, 
which  the  little  scamp  obeyed  to  the  letter,  going  back 
for  his  boots  and  breeches  only  when  he  had  routed  out 
the  entire  garrison.  In  less  than  three  minutes  the 
various  companies  were  standing  in  disciplined  silence 
and  solid  ranks  at  their  respective  stations,  waiting  for 
orders,  for  in  the  absence  of  any  sign  of  fire  no  one 
knew  where  to  go.  The  colonel,  who  always  seemed 
to  sleep  with  one  eye  and  both  ears  open,  and  who 
never  went  to  bed  without  expecting  an  alarm  of  fire 
somewhere  in  his  great  tinder-box  of  a  post,  was  at  his 
station  in  the  centre  of  the  parade  before  most  of  the 
officers  appeared,  the  adjutant  and  captains  running 
directly  to  him  for  orders,  while  the  subalterns  sped 
across  the  level  plain  to  join  their  companies.  By  this 
time  all  sound  of  shots  or  shouts  had  subsided,  and  as 
no  officer  of  the  day  appeared  to  explain  matters,  the 
colonel  marched  briskly  away  towards  the  guard-house, 
most  of  his  officers  following.  They  were  received  in 
due  form  by  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  who  promptly 
said, — 

"  I  don't  think  it's  a  fire  at  all,  sir.  The  first  alarm 
was  a  pistol  shot,  then  a  carbine  and  a  yell  for  the  cor 
poral  from  No.  7.  The  officer  of  the  guard  with  Cor 
poral  Lenihan  ran  at  once,  and  it  was  after  they  got 
down  into  the  valley  that  the  cry  of  fire  came  from  the 
corral,  but  there's  no  fire  there,  sir.  I  sent  Corporal 
Preusser  down  at  once.  He  came  back  and  said  the 
truck  had  run  towards  the  haystacks,  and  he  met  the 
quartermaster  as  he  was  coming  up  the  hill.  No,  sir ; 
there's  some  other  trouble.  Corporal  Buck  came  in  at 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  245 

midnight  from  pass  and  reported  the  magazine  robbed, 
and  Lieutenant  Ray  rode  down  to  see  about  it,  and  he 
hasn't  got  back  at  all,  sir." 

"  What  time  is  it  now  ?" 

"  Almost  2.30,  sir." 

"  Gentlemen,  hold  your  companies  where  they  are  for 
a  moment.  Major  Stannard,  you  take  charge. — Send  a 
couple  of  men  with  me,  sergeant."  And  so  saying,  the 
post  commander,  with  his  adjutant,  trudged  away  to 
the  bluff  and  was  soon  lost  to  sight  in  the  darkness. 

Down  the  slope,  down  past  the  open  doors  of  the 
quartermaster's  stables  they  ploughed  their  way  through 
the  thick,  light  fleece  of  snow.  The  watchman,  excited 
and  eager-eyed,  touched  his  cap  as  they  passed,  but 
could  tell  nothing  in  response  to  their  inquiry.  Neither 
could  the  sentries  on  Nos.  5  and  6.  It  was  not  until 
they  had  gone  nearly  half  a  mile  and  were  at  the  post 
of  No.  7  among  the  haystacks,  that  a  couple  of  lanterns 
came  flitting  like  will-o'-the-wisps  through  the  sifting 
veil,  and  presently  they  met  the  truckmen,  dragging 
slowly  back,  chatting  in  low,  excited  tones. 

"What  was  the  matter,  sergeant?"  asked  the 
colonel. 

"I  don't  just  know,  sir;  the  officer  of  the  day  has 
a  prisoner,  and  there's  been  some  stealing  at  the  maga 
zine  and  stables.  Sergeant  Jamieson's  shot,  I  believe, 
sir." 

A  few  paces  farther  and  they  came  upon  another 
group,  slowly  approaching  them.  A  two-horse  wagon, 
loaded  with  sacks  of  oats,  was  being  carefully  guided  by 
a  couple  of  members  of  the  guard,  for  lying  on  the 
sacks  was  a  moaning  cavalryman.  Behind  it  carne 

21* 


246  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Lieutenant  Ray,  the  quartermaster,  and  the  officer  of 
the  guard,  while  Hogaii  followed  in  their  track  leading 
Dandy,  the  only  living  being  in  the  party  apparently 
utterly  unconcerned.  It  was  the  officer  of  the  day  the 
colonel  accosted  : 

"  What's  the  matter,  Ray  ?" 

"  The  magazine  and  Freeman's  stables  robbed,  sir ; 
Sergeant  Jamieson  shot  in  the  leg  and  his  horse  killed. 
Rather  a  long  story,  colonel,  as  all  three  happened  at 
different  times  and  places." 

And  then  a  feeble  voice,  mingled  with  many  a  groan 
and  imprecation,  was  heard  from  the  wagon  : 

"  I  swear  to  God,  Colonel  Atherton,  hTrn — h'I'm  hin- 
nocent,  sir.  The  officer  of  the  day  accused  me  of  being 
a  conspirator,  'e  did,  sir.  I  was  shot  doing  my  duty. — 
O  God,  men,  go  gently,"  he  cried,  as  the  springless 
wagon  jolted  across  a  little  gully  hidden  under  the 
snow. 

"  With  your  permission,  colonel,  I  will  send  Hogan 
on  Dandy  for  Dr.  Pease,  and  have  him  examine  Jamie- 
son's  hurt  here  at  the  stables,  and  then  I  can  tell  you 
what  has  taken  place." 

"  Very  good  ! — Hogan,  give  my  compliments  to 
Major  Stannard  and  tell  him  to  dismiss  the  command ; 
you  will  find  Dr.  Pease  with  him,  probably.  Ask  him 
to  come  down  to  the  stables." 

Ten  minutes  more,  while  the  surgeon  was  looking 
after  his  patient  at  the  front  end  of  Freeman's  stables, 
a  little  group  was  gathered  under  the  open  hatchway 
at  the  other,  and,  having  unloaded  their  human  freight, 
one  or  two  men  were  tumbling  the  sacks  of  oats  out  of 
the  wagon.  Ray's  story  was  briefly  told.  He  had 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  247 

long  suspected  the  proprietors  of  a  certain  store  as 
being  receivers  of  property  stolen  from  the  post  and 
depot;  had  followed  the  trail  to  within  five  blocks  of 
the  establishment,  and,  as  he  expressed  it,  his  "  nose 
the  rest  of  the  way ;"  had  given  chase  to  the  man  who 
escaped  on  horseback,  and  speedily  realized  that  he 
could  be  no  other  than  Freeman's  English  hussar  stable 
sergeant  on  his  pet  horse  "  Cardigan,"  one  of  the  fleet 
est  in  the  — th  Calvalry.  Even  through  the  falling 
film  of  snow,  Ray  was  sure  he  could  recognize  the 
peculiar  seat,  and  he  knew  well  there  was  only  one 
horse  that  could  keep  Dandy  on  a  stern-chase  more 
than  a  minute  or  two,  even  with  so  light  a  rider  as 
Jamieson.  Thrice  he  shouted  his  own  name,  and  called 
to  the  sergeant  to  halt,  and  he  thought  his  voice  must 
have  been  heard  and  recognized.  But  the  only  answer 
seemed  to  be  renewed  spurring  and  fresh  bursts  of 
speed.  A  long  circular  sweep  from  the  north  of  the 
town  finally  brought  them  over  the  prairie  east  of  it, 
and  here  at  last  Ray  knew  he  was  gaining  on  his 
quarry.  Again  he  shouted  orders  to  pull  up,  and  gave 
his  own  name ;  again  the  sergeant  plied  the  spur  and 
suddenly  disappeared  in  the  railway  cut,  whither  Ray 
promptly  followed,  and,  just  as  he  expected,  found  the 
chase  had  striven  to  double  on  itself  and  had  turned 
sharply  to  the  right.  But  the  Kentuckian  and  Dandy 
had  not  coursed  Jack  rabbits  for  nothing,  and  the 
Englishman's  ruse  only  lost  him  his  lead,  and  with  it 
went  his  head,  for,  finding  the  pursuer  almost  upon 
him,  he  had  whipped  out  a  revolver  and  opened  fire  as 
he  rode, — the  last  desperate  resort  of  the  hunted 
criminal. 


248  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Ray  promptly  swerved  Dandy  to  the  left,  so  as  to 
bring  him  on  the  "  near"  side  of  the  chase  and  so  baffle 
his  aim  ;  but  even  as  he  turned  he  felt  the  wind  of 
a  bullet  that  zipped  past  his  cheek.  That  was  more 
than  a  Kentuckian  could  possibly  be  expected  to  stand, 
and  out  came  his  own  trusty  Colt.  Jamieson  turned  in 
his  saddle  and  fired  again  over  his  bridle-arm,  deaf  ap 
parently  to  Ray's  shouts  to  halt  and  surrender.  Dandy 
swerved  again  at  the  sudden  flash  so  near  his  nose,  and 
his  long  springy  stride  became  suddenly  short  and  stiff- 
legged,  and  Ray,  furious  at  the  fear  that  his  pet  was 
shot  and  that  the  scoundrel  of  a  sergeant  might  escape, 
aimed  deliberately  as  he  could,  pulled  trigger,  heard  a 
yell  of  pain  and  dismay  from  the  chase,  and  then  with 
a  bound  or  two  more  Freeman's  fleetest  runner  went 
plunging  heavily  to  earth,  hurling  his  rider  into  the 
snow.  Ray  and  Dandy,  carried  by  the  impulse  of  their 
speed,  went  a  dozen  yards  or  more  before  they  could 
come  down  to  a  trot  and  rein  about  in  broad  circle  and 
return  to  the  crippled  and  fallen  foe.  Springing  from 
his  horse  and  leaving  him,  heaving  and  panting,  to  re 
cover  breath,  still  warily  covering  the  Englishman 
with  his  revolver,  the  officer  closed  upon  him,  took 
away  the  pistol  that  had  fallen  into  half  a  foot  of  snow 
from  an  apparently  lifeless  hand,  then  laying  hold  of 
the  coat-collar  proceeded  to  drag  him  away  from  his 
plunging,  stiffening  charger,  whereat  Jamieson  sud 
denly  recovered  consciousness  and  began  to  groan  and 
swear  and  beg  piteously  for  his  life. 

"  Shut  up,  you  infernal  scoundrel !"  was  the  unfeel 
ing  answer.  "  I'm  not  going  to  kill  you,  though  you 
deserve  it." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  249 

"  Ho,  my  Gawd,  if  it  isn't  Lieutenant  Ray  I  So 
help  me  'eaven,  sir,  I  thought  it  was  some  of  the  rob 
bers." 

"Shut  up,  I  tell  you.  Don't  lie  to  me.  Here, 
stand  up  now.  You've  only  got  a  clip  in  the  calf  of 
the  leg — no  bone  is  broken." 

"  But  hTll  bleed  to  death,  sir.  So  'elp  me  God,  lieu 
tenant,  h'l  thought  they'd  surrounded  me.  Hi  was 
chasing  two  of  them." 

"Don't  lie,  I  tell  you,  Jamieson.  Give  me  your 
handkerchief." 

And  sprawling  his  prisoner  once  more  on  his  back  in 
the  snow,  Ray  noted  where  the  bullet  had  clipped 
through  the  boot ;  carefully  cut  away  the  leather  with 
the  sergeant's  knife  and  snugly  bound  the  bandanna, 
about  the  wound,  a  groove  hardly  half  an  inch  deep  or 
two  inches  long  at  the  back  of  the  calf;  hoisted  his  pro 
testing  prisoner  into  Dandy's  saddle,  gave  one  sorrow 
ful  look  at  the  beautiful  bay,  now  stiffening  in  the  last 
agony  of  death ;  drew  forth  his  revolver  again  as 
though  to  give  him  the  mercy  shot,  but  reflected  that 
he  might  need  every  one  of  those  five  charges  for  his 
own  protection,  and  then,  mildly  intimating  to  Jamie- 
son  that  any  attempt  on  his  part  to  escape  would  result 
in  his  being  "  plugged  with  lead,"  took  Dandy  by  the 
bridle  rein  and  started  on  the  long  march  for  home. 
They  were  now  on  the  open  prairie  some  distance  south 
of  the  town.  Jamieson  begged  to  be  taken  in  there  and 
left  at  the  hotel,  or,  if  the  lieutenant  still  suspected  him, 
in  the  hands  of  the  police ;  but  to  all  entreaties  Ray 
turned  a  deaf  ear  and  trudged  away  at  a  brisk  walk, 
Dandy  obediently  following.  Then  Jamieson  begged  to 


250  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

be  taken  to  a  ranch  in  the  creek  valley  near  at  hand, 
where  lived  some  country  folk  of  his  who  would  dress 
his  wound  properly ;  but  this,  too,  was  denied  him,  and 
by  quite  a  wide  detour  they  kept  away  from  town, 
crossed  the  stream  to  the  south  side  when  they  reached 
the  road  and  bridge,  and  then  headed  along  the  bluffs 
for  the  distant  fort.  Not  quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  the 
ranch  which  Jamieson  had  mentioned,  the  sound  of 
rapid  hoof-beats  and  loud  voices  on  the  north  bank  met 
their  ears,  and  Jamieson  grew  eager  and  excited.  One 
second  of  listening  told  Kay  they  were  not  troopers, 
and  one  glance  at  Jamieson  made  him  suspicious. 

"  If  you  shout  for  help  or  utter  a  sound,  my  man, 
it's  the  last  cry  you'll  give  this  side  of  hell,"  he  said, 
as  with  his  left  hand  he  gripped  Dandy's  muzzle  to 
repress  his  desire  to  neigh,  and  with  the  other  covered 
the  ex-hussar  with  his  pistol  until  the  party  rode  on 
out  of  hearing.  Then  he  resumed  his  march,  recrossed 
on  the  ice  to  the  north  side  at  a  shallow  pool  where  the 
stream  had  been  dammed  for  a  skating  rink,  and  had 
just  got  within  thirty  yards  of  the  haystacks  when  a 
two-horse  wagon  loomed  suddenly  into  view  from  the 
south  side  of  the  enclosure,  at  sight  of  which  Jamie- 
son  had  loudly  cried. 

"  7Elp,  boys,  'elp,  for  God's  sake,  it's  Jamieson !" 

"  Halt  there,  you  men  !  What  have  you  got  in  that 
wagon  ?"  shouted  Ray. 

The  answer  was  a  furious  crack  of  the  whip,  a  mut 
tered  exclamation,  a  rush  of  the  horses,  a  shot  from 
Ray's  pistol,  at  sound  of  which  the  driver  sprang  off 
and  scurried  into  the  darkness,  a  challenge,  and  then 
a  shot  from  the  sentry,  who  suddenly  ran  around 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  251 

from  the  north  side  of  the  fence,  at  which  the  other 
man  disappeared,  and  then  followed  the  alarm  of  the 
garrison. 

In  vain  Jamieson  pleaded  that  he  had  discovered  the 
robbery  of  the  magazine  and  was  chasing  the  robbers 
when  Ray  overhauled  him.  In  vain  he  cried  that  his 
wound  was  killing  him.  Gruff  old  Doctor  Pease  pro 
nounced  it  a  mere  scratch  a  child  would  make  no  fuss 
over,  and  the  colonel  sternly  ordered  Jamieson  to  be 
carried  to  the  guard-house  and  given  a  bed  there  with 
the  hospital  steward  and  a  corporal  of  the  guard  in 
charge  of  him.  The  adjutant  was  sent  with  a  couple 
of  men  to  count  the  losses  and  secure  the  magazine. 
Hogan  was  despatched  to  make  some  hot  tea  for  his 
lieutenant.  Dandy  was  being  rubbed  by  assiduous 
hands  at  the  troop  stable,  and  the  colonel  and  Ray  were 
slowly  walking  together  from  the  guard-house  towards 
the  former's  quarters,  when  Hogan  came  running  forth 
again,  almost  breathless,  and  met  them  on  the  parade. 

"  Lieutenant,  lieutenant !"  he  cried,  "  Mr.  Blake's 
room  has  been  busted  into  and  his  desk  and  every 
thing  there  robbed  too." 


252  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THERE  was  a  rallying  of  the  clans  at  Kay's  quarters 
within  the  half-hour  that  followed  Hogan's  abrupt 
announcement.  Officers  who  had  started  for  their 
homes  noted  the  excited  manner  of  the  "striker"  as 
he  ran  to  meet  the  colonel  and  his  lieutenant,  and  pres 
ently  half  a  dozen  grave-faced  men  were  assembled  at 
the  little  bachelor  den  and  busily  engaged  searching 
the  premises  for  any  trace  of  the  marauders.  Blake 
had  locked  his  room  after  getting  out  his  field  kit,  and 
had  left  the  key  with  Ray,  who  stowed  it  in  the  upper 
drawer  of  his  bureau.  The  key  was  found  there  un 
disturbed,  apparently  unused.  But  Blake's  door  had 
been  opened  without  any  difficulty,  probably  by  skele 
ton  keys,  as  the  lock  was  found  thrown  back  and  in 
perfect  order.  On  the  table  stood  his  writing-desk, — a 
big,  old-fashioned,  rectangular  box,  brass-bound,  and 
with  compartments  for  stationery  and  valuable  letters, 
and  the  conventional  secret  drawer  opened  by  pulling 
up  a  brass  pin  in  the  edge  of  the  lower  half  of  the  box, 
— about  as  unreliable  a  secret-keeper  as  one's  feminine 
relatives.  This  desk  had  been  treated  with  scant  cere 
mony,  forced  open  and  hacked,  and  the  contents  were 
scattered  about  the  floor.  The  bureau-drawers  had  also 
been  pried  open,  and  handkerchiefs,  shirts,  collars,  and 
all  manner  of  masculine  gear  were  tumbled  about. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  253 

Some  scarf-pins,  sleeve-buttons,  etc.,  were  gone,  but 
nothing  of  any  great  value.  It  was  not  the  hope  of 
a  rich  haul  that  tempted  any  night  prowler  to  invade 
the  bedroom  of  a  bachelor  officer, — that  was  never  a 
game  worth  the  candle,  let  alone  the  risk.  Ray  had 
speedily  realized  that  something  very  different  had 
lured  the  thief,  and  it  was  he  who  first  seized  and 
searched  the  secret  drawer.  A  packet  of  letters  that 
had  been  there  was  now  missing ;  but  whether  Blake 
took  it  with  him  to  the  field  or  whether  it  had  been 
stolen  that  night,  he  could  not  say.  Meantime,  the 
colonel  and  others  had  found,  half  covered  by  the  still 
falling  snow,  the  foot-tracks  of  a  man  leading  from 
the  rear  gate  around  to  the  front  porch  and  back  again. 
Hogan  had  barred  the  kitchen  door  when  he  went  to 
town  at  sunset ;  and  Captain  Turner  and  some  of  the 
younger  officers  followed  these  tracks  out  to  a  point 
north  of  the  old  brown  hospital.  Here  were  wheel  and 
hoof  marks  still  faintly  discernible  through  the  mantle 
of  snow,  apparently  those  of  a  single  horse  and  buggy. 
Meantime,  Freeman  had  lodged  his  stable  orderly  in 
the  guard -house,  put  another  sergeant  in  charge  vice 
the  ex-hussar,  and  had  been  investigating  on  his  own 
account.  The  wagon-load  of  oats  intercepted  by  Ray 
was  the  second  that  had  been  stolen  from  his  forage- 
room  that  night,  in  the  absence,  presumably,  of  Ser 
geant  Jamieson,  and  undoubtedly  with  the  connivance 
of  the  stable  orderly.  The  same  wagon  had  made  an 
earlier  round  trip  from  and  to  the  town,  avoiding  the 
sentries  by  keeping  to  the  south  of  the  stables  and  hay- 
yard,  and  being  unheard  by  reason  of  the  muffling 
snow.  It  was  Freeman  who  quietly  announced  to 

22 


254  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Colonel  Atherton,  as  they  finally  separated  to  get  such 
rest  as  was  now  possible  before  reveille, — 

"  This  whole  thing,  sir,  is  the  work  of  one  gang, 
acting  in  definite  knowledge  of  affairs  at  the  post,  and 
I  cannot  make  up  my  mind  whether  it  is  composed 
entirely  of  soldiers,  or  whether  they  have  only  two  or 
three  accomplices  here.  I  have  enough  evidence  to 
cast  grave  suspicion  on  Jamieson.  I  was  going  to 
detail  Warren  for  duty  in  the  stables  ten  days  ago,  but 
he  induced  me  to  give  this  man  Mudge  a  trial,  saying 
he  was  an  expert  hostler  and  horseman ;  and  he  made 
such  a  point  of  it  that  I  yielded  against  my  better 
judgment,  for  Mudge  came  to  us  with  that  batch  of 
recruits  only  last  October  while  we  were  up  in  the 
Hills." 

Immediately  after  guard-mounting  the  colonel  began 
his  investigation ;  and  the  more  he  probed  the  more 
thoroughly  was  he  satisfied  that  almost  everything  had 
been  effected  in  accordance  with  a  prearranged  plan : 
Jamieson  was  to  be  away  on  pass,  so  as  to  know  noth 
ing  of  the  stable  robbery  ;  the  magazine  was  to  be 
opened  early  enough  at  night  to  enable  them  to  get 
their  goods  hidden  before  morning,  and  Ray's  tour  was 
selected,  because  the  perpetrators  knew  him  so  well 
that  they  felt  sure  he  would  come  riding  down  to  in 
vestigate  in  person,  leaving  his  quarters  open  to  in 
vasion.  No  account  was  taken  of  Hogan  ;  he  was  a 
heavy  sleeper,  and  was  generally  early  in  bed,  deaf  to 
any  sound  until  the  trumpet-call  at  dawn.  Valuables, 
the  colonel  knew,  they  would  not  expect  to  find  in  the 
rooms  of  either  Blake  or  Ray,  and  Ray's  things  had 
hardly  been  disturbed  at  all.  His  desk  was  untouched. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  255 

It  was  a  question  the  colonel  did  not  like  to  ask,  but 
the  course  of  the  investigation  seemed  to  demand  it, 
and  he  sent  for  Ray. 

"  Do  you  know  of  anything  Mr.  Blake  had,  not  of 
intrinsic  value  in  itself,  but  that  scoundrels  could  make 
convertible  into  money  ?"  asked  Atherton,  and  he 
thought  to  himself,  but  would  not  say, — "  by  blackmail, 
for  instance." 

Ray's  face  showed  that  he  did  know,  though  for  a 
moment  he  stood  in  silence,  making  no  reply. 

"  I  understand  your  scruples,  Mr.  Ray,  and  respect 
your  reticence  in  the  matter,  but  that  is  the  only  theory 
on  which  I  can  account  for  their  robbing  his  room 
at  all,  and  if  it  be  the  right  one,  it  will  not  take  us 
long  to  put  our  hands  on  the  thief.  I  have  heard 
that  Grimsby  frequently  came  with  letters  for  Mr. 
Blake  by  the  back  way,  and  I  believe  it  was  some  one 
who  hoped  to  use  these  letters  who  searched  for  them 
last  night ;  and  Hogan  says  he  saw  Grimsby  with  a 
horse  and  buggy  in  town  at  eleven  o'clock." 

"  Blake  very  often  read  to  me  the  contents  of  those 
notes  brought  by  Grimsby,  colonel,"  said  Ray,  promptly. 
"  Nobody  could  have  objected  to  anything  I  heard  ;  and 
they  weren't  the  kind  to  be  of  any  use  to  a  black 
mailer." 

"  I  do  not  think  they  were  either,  Ray,  and  I'm  very 
glad  you  say  so,"  replied  the  colonel,  with  grave  kind 
ness  in  his  tone.  "  But  the  fact  of  their  frequency 
may  have  given  men  of  Grimsby ?s  character  the  idea 
that  something  could  be  made  of  them.  Major  Granger 
told  me  weeks  ago  that  he  thoroughly  distrusted 
the  man,  and  meant  to  discharge  him  as  soon  as  he 


256  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

could  find  as  good  a  coachman.  Now,  here  is  a  letter 
from  Colonel  Rand.  You  got  to  know  him  well  last 
summer,  I  believe, — and  this  is  not  the  first  time  he  has 
had  dealings  with  the  Rocky  Mountain  detective  force. 
He  stayed  at  Denver  only  one  day,  and  went  back  at 
once  to  head-quarters ;  but  he  tells  me  that  absolutely 
nothing  has  been  heard  of  any  man  even  faintly  re 
sembling  Granger  within  the  district  covered  by  their 
detectives.  He  thinks,  and  they  think,  that  he  never 
left  this  neighborhood  at  all.  Colonel  Rand  further 
says  that  your  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Rallston,  once  had 
some  differences  with  him  about  a  large  contract  for 
horses  and  mules.  Did  Mr.  Rallston  ever  tell  you  of 
the  matter  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  and  while  I  cannot  speak  of  it  without 
his  permission,  I  have  written  asking  him  to  go  to 
Colonel  Rand  and  give  him  all  the  facts." 

The  colonel  was  silent  a  moment,  his  eyes  bent  closely 
on  the  letter  before  him.  Then  he  wheeled  around  in 
his  chair : 

"  Ray,  I  feel  that  in  view  of  Granger's  strange  dis 
appearance  I  ought  to  hear  everything  and  anything 
that  may  throw  light  on  the  subject,  and  my  officers 
should  not  hide  from  me  anything  they  may  know  of 
the  man.  Personally  and  officially  I  knew  next  to 
nothing  of  him  before  coming  here,  and  since  then,  as 
he  was  not  under  my  command  at  all,  my  relations 
with  him  have  been  those  of  courtesy  only.  Since  my 
interviews  with  Colonel  Rand  I  have  learned  much 
that  was  only  rumor  before,  and  that  I  had  treated  as 
baseless  slander.  But  you  and  Truscott,  I  understand, 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him  ;  and  he  intimated 


CAPTAIN  SLAKE.  257 

to  me  that  on  one  occasion  you  treated  him  with  what 
he  called  e  the  utmost  discourtesy/  " 

Ray's  head  went  back  on  his  shoulders  and  an  inch 
or  two  higher, — the  old  characteristic  sign  of  smoulder 
ing  wrath.  His  dark  eyes  snapped,  and  a  red  spot 
began  to  burn  on  each  cheek. 

"  I  practically  called  him  a  thief  and  a  liar,  Colonel 
Atherton,  if  that  can  be  termed  great  discourtesy,  and 
I  meant  exactly  what  I  said.  It  was  not  a  proper 
thing  to  do  under  ordinary  circumstances,  but  Mr. 
Blake  and  I  both  believed  that  he  had  instigated  the 
assault  upon  Blake,  and  we  gave  him  our  reasons  and 
called  upon  him  for  an  explanation.  He  treated  our 
letter  in  contemptuous  fashion ;  insulted  Blake  in  his 
reply ;  refused  to  recognize  me  as  Blake's  friend  or  sec 
ond  if  it  came  to  such  a  point ;  demanded  to  see  Blake 
personally  afterwards,  and  then  was  simply  insolent  to 
me  when  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  Blake  refused  to 
see  him,  and  that  any  communication  he  had  to  make 
must  be  through  me.  He  was  very  virulent  and  in 
sulting  in  his  reply,  and  then  all  that  Rallston  had  told 
me  got  the  upper  hand,  so  to  speak,  and  I  did  give  him  a 
piece  of  my  mind.  If  he  is  dead,  I'm  sorry  for  having 
said  it ;  if  he's  alive,  I'll  be  very  apt  to  say  it  again." 

"  Well,  the  major  certainly  put  it  very  mildly  in 
describing  your  language,"  said  the  colonel,  with  a 
quiet  smile,  "  but  I  infer  that  you  knew  whereof  you 
spoke  and  could  prove  it.  Has  Mr.  Rallston  any 
theory  as  to  the  cause  of  his  disappearance?  I  un 
derstand  that  Mr.  Carroll  intimated  in  Major  Stan- 
nard's  hearing  that  if  he  were  here  he  might  be  able  to 
throw  some  light  on  the  matter." 
r  22* 


258  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  I  have  not  heard  directly  from  Rallston  in  more 
than  a  fortnight,  colonel.  He  has  been  away ;  but  I 
look  for  a  letter  from  him  by  every  mail." 

At  this  moment  the  telegraph  operator  tapped  at  the 
door,  and,  entering,  handed  the  post  commander  a  de 
spatch.  Atherton's  lips  twitched  a  little  at  the  corners 
as  he  read.  Something  evidently  amused  him,  for 
were  the  opposite  the  case  he  would  have  given  no 
sign.  His  eyes  were  twinkling  as  he  looked  up  at 
Kay. 

"  Hollis  has  reached  Fetterman  and  wants  to  come 
down  at  once.  He  was  shot  in  the  thigh  pretty  much 
as  you  were  last  summer.  Isn't  it  rather  too  soon  for 
him  to  be  undertaking  long  journeys  ?" 

"  Hollis's  recuperative  powers  are  immense,  colonel," 
answered  Ray,  his  white  teeth  gleaming.  "  I  am  sure 
it  is  far  pleasanter  to  spend  the  days  of  one's  conva 
lescence  here  than  in  hospital  at  that  bleak  post.  All 
his  lady  friends  will  rally  round  him,  and  he'll  be 
dancing  again  inside  of  a  month  if  the  doctor  isn't 
careful.  Any  news  of  Blake,  sir  ?" 

"Nothing;  this  is  from  Hollis  himself.  He  wants 
to  know  if  a  relay  of  mules  can't  meet  him  at  the 
Chugwater  to-morrow.  I  fancy  that  we  should  not 
encourage  such  feverish  haste  to  get  back,  but  I  will 
see  Dr.  Pease." 

That  evening,  though  the  air  was  keen  and  frosty, 
the  entire  command  marched  out  and  closed  on  the 
centre  for  publication  of  orders  at  sunset.  The  long 
line  of  light-blue  overcoats — six  big  companies  of 
cavalrymen,  recruited  to  the  maximum  as  the  result 
of  the  recent  Indian  hostilities,  and  four  little  bands 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  259 

of  foot,  Waldron's  detachment  of  "the  Riflers" — 
formed  a  force  that  stretched  far  across  the  parade. 
For  a  wonder  the  mountain  breeze  was  lulled  ;  the  flag 
drooped  about  its  tall  white  staff,  and  the  chimney- 
smoke  sailed  straight  aloft.  A  dozen  ladies  were 
promenading  briskly  up  and  down  the  gravel  walk, 
taking  the  air  and  chatting  with  their  friends  among 
the  officers  not  on  duty.  None  of  the  captains  were 
with  the  battalion,  each  company  being  marched  to 
the  line  by  one  of  its  subaltern  officers.  The  trum 
peters  and  field-musicians  were  massed  at  the  right  of 
the  line.  The  adjutant  took  his  station  in  front  of 
the  centre ;  the  trumpets  sounded  the  retreat,  and  with 
the  last  note  the  flag  came  fluttering  down,  and  then 
the  publication  of  orders  began.  First,  some  general 
court-martial  cases  were  read,  the  dreary  array  of  pleas, 
findings,  and  sentence  being  listened  to  in  bored  silence 
by  the  command ;  and  then,  as  Mr.  Billings  stowed 
away  the  papers  from  division  head-quarters  and  pro 
duced  the  sheet  or  two  of  post  orders,  he  glanced 
along  his  line  and  became  instantly  aware  that  many 
of  the  men  were  far  more  interested  in  something 
going  on  up  near  the  adjutant's  office  than  they  were 
in  the  fate  of  Private  Mulligan,  who,  for  desertion, 
was  doomed  to  a  couple  of  years  at  the  Leavenworth 
prison,  or  of  Trooper  Schaatz,  who,  for  getting  glori 
ously  drunk  on  pay-day  and  "  raising  Cain"  about  the 
quarters,  was  to  labor  for  no  less  than  three  months  in 
charge  of  the  guard. 

"  Keep  your  head  and  eyes  to  the  front  there  in  the 
left  wing!'7  ordered  the  adjutant,  and  went  on  with 
his  reading,  every  now  and  then  glancing  over  the  top 


260  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

of  the  page  and  noting  that,  though  discipline  now 
prevailed  and  the  heads  were  straight,  the  eyes  kept 
wandering  westward.  Before  he  had  finished  and 
announced  the  detail  for  the  coming  day,  he  knew  that 
somebody  had  come  out  behind  him  and  was  standing 
close  at  hand  waiting  for  him  to  complete  his  duty. 
A  moment  more  and  he  had  dismissed  the  command 
and  was  receiving  the  reports,  and  then  the  orderly  of 
the  commanding  officer  stepped  forward  and  addressed 
him.  The  colonel  desired  the  adjutant  to  come  to  the 
office  at  once ;  Major  Stannard  and  Captains  Freeman 
and  Truscott  had  already  gone. 

The  ladies  were  still  grouped  here  and  there  along  the 
walk,  many  of  the  officers  had  joined  them  on  dispers 
ing  after  parade,  a  number  of  the  children  whose  game 
of  tag  had  been  suspended  during  the  brief  ceremony 
now  resumed  their  noisy,  laughing  chase;  but  there 
was  an  air  of  gravity  if  not  apprehension  among  their 
elders.  Two  rough-looking  cow  ponies  in  their  heavy 
Mexican  saddles  stood  with  drooping  heads  in  front  of 
the  office,  and  the  riders  had  apparently  gone  inside. 
Mr.  Billings  took  the  short  cut,  going  straight  up  the 
parade,  and,  without  a  preliminary  word  with  any  one, 
found  himself  in  the  presence  of  his  colonel,  Major 
Stannard  and  the  two  captains,  and  of  two  wiry, 
weatherbeaten  ranchmen,  one  of  whom  was  old  Bryan. 

The  colonel  was  speaking  as  he  entered  :  "  You 
say  that  both  Howell  and  Grimsby  were  there  last 
night?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  spoke  the  younger  of  the  two  ranchmen  ; 
"  they  were  in  the  old  shack  at  eight  o'clock ;  and  there 
was  three  or  four  more  men, — toughs,  every  one  of 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  261 

them  ;  but  there  was  no  soldiers  there.    I  saw  Sergeant 
Jamieson  in  town  only  an  hour  later." 

"You  see,  colonel,"  spoke  up  old  Bryan,  " there's 
dozens  of  my  cattle  that  we  haven't  seen  hair  nor  hide 
of  since  the  storm,  and  my  men  have  been  scouring  the 
whole  country  to  the  southeast,  and  Jim  here — in  fact, 
all  of  them — had  their  orders  to  inquire  everywhere. 
That's  how  he  happened  to  ride  in  there.  If  it  had 
been  me,  I  suppose  I'd  never  have  got  out  alive ;  but 
they  didn't  seem  to  know  him.  He's  only  been  with 
me  a  few  months.  He  came  down  from  Idaho  after 
the  campaign." 

"  It  seems  rather  reckless  of  Howell,  as  he  is  called, 
to  have  remained  around  here  after  escaping  from  the 
guard-house,"  said  Atherton,  reflectively. 

"  Why,  Lord  bless  you,  colonel,"  answered  old  Bryan. 
"  That  fellow  says  there  isn't  a  guard-house  in  the  army 
that  can  hold  him  five  minutes  longer  than  he  chooses 
to  stay.  He  has  escaped  from  that  same  guard-house 
once  before.  I  knew  him  when  he  was  quartermaster's 
clerk  here  ten  years  ago,  when  they  were  building  the 
post,  sir ;  and  a  smart,  capable  fellow  he  was  then ; 
but  he  got  to  gambling,  then  to  drinking,  and  then  to 
stealing,  they  say,  and  then  he  disappeared  for  a  time, 
and  we  heard  he'd  gone  and  'listed  somewhere.  Yet  the 
moment  Major  Granger  came  out  here  and  took  charge 
at  the  depot,  this  fellow  Brooks,  or  Howell,  turned  up 
again,  looking  sober,  but  seedy.  And  damn  me — I  beg 
your  pardon,  sir — if  he  didn't  get  a  good  position  right 
off.  He  could  have  kept  it,  too,  but  for  drink.  And 
when  he  drank  he  would  talk  and  say  all  sorts  of  queer 
things.  He  used  to  brag  that  Granger  would  make 


262  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

him  chief  clerk  any  day  he  chose  to  ask ;  he  wouldn't 
dare  refuse  him ;  for  if  he  did  he  could  have  the  old 
man  cashiered.  He  had  clerked  under  him  in  New 
Orleans,  he  said,  during  the  war,  and  knew  all  about 
his  cotton  business  and  steamboat  contracts, — whatever 
they  were.  But  last  year  he  was  drinking  so  hard 
Granger  had  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  a  shooting  scrape 
the  fellow  got  into  in  town  settled  the  business.  It 
was  a  fair  enough  fight,  I  reckon ;  but  the  other  man 
was  killed,  and  Brooks,  or  Howell,  was  shot  so  bad 
that  they  thought  he'd  die  sure ;  and  his  friends — some 
of  this  very  gang,  I  reckon — got  him  out  of  town,  and 
it  was  given  out  that  he  did  die  and  was  buried  at  a 
ranch  over  towards  the  Cache  la  Poudre.  I  know 
they  told  Granger  so,  and  we  all  believed  it,  and  the 
next  we  knew  a  sergeant  came  in  here  who  had  been 
stationed  at  the  post  seven  years  ago,  and  said  Brooks 
was  serving  in  the  — d  Infantry  under  the  name  of 
Howell,  over  in  California ;  and  then  that  very  com 
pany  was  transferred  over  here  to  Fort  Steele,  and  the 
next  I  knew  was  the  night  of  the  theatre  here,  and  as 
we  were  going  home  afterwards  up  to  the  ranch  my 
driver  told  me  of  the  row  down  at  the  stables,  and  said 
that  Brooks  was  there  drunk,  and  that  he  had  picked 
a  fight  with  Granger's  new  coachman,  and  that  Captain 
Truscott  had  clapped  him  in  the  guard-house  as  a 
deserter,  recognized  by  Sergeant  Carmody.  It's  the 
same  man,  colonel.  The  more  I  think  of  it,  sir,  the 
more  I  suspect  that  his  sudden  reappearance  here  had 
something  to  do  with  Major  Granger's — going." 

For  a  moment  the  silence  in  the  dreary  old  office  was 
something  oppressive.     It  had  begun  to  grow  dark, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  263 

and  the  orderly,  who  approached  with  a  lighted  lamp, 
was  warned  back  by  a  gesture  from  Captain  Freeman, 
who  then  arose  and  shut  the  door.  The  colonel,  seated 
at  his  desk,  had  listened  attentively  to  every  word  the 
grizzled  old  volunteer  had  spoken,  and  was  closely 
studying  his  flushed  and  eager  face.  Everybody  knew 
Bryan's  frailty, — that  he  would  drink  at  times,  and 
drink  deeply  when  he  drank  at  all.  But  one  or  two 
lessons  in  the  recent  past  had  served  to  put  him  more 
on  guard  over  himself,  and  his  devoted  daughter  had 
done  her  best.  She  watched  him  with  the  utmost  care, 
and  when  the  first  symptoms  of  intoxication  appeared, 
the  keg  of  whiskey  was  hidden  where  he  could  never 
find  it.  And  yet,  to  prevent  his  riding  off  to  town  in 
search  of  liquor,  she  kept  a  little  flask,  with  which  at 
long  intervals  she  dealt  him  out  a  fragrant  mixture 
that  tided  over  the  day  and  got  him  to  bed  sober.  She 
would  not  abolish  the  keg  entirely ;  she  knew  that  that 
would  simply  result  in  his  being  driven  from  home  to 
seek  the  destroyer  elsewhere.  Atherton  heard  of  her 
pleas  to  the  post- trader  to  refuse  to  give  the  old  man 
drink  when  he  had  been  drinking  at  all,  and  supple 
mented  her  request  by  an  effective  word.  Twice  had 
the  old  soldier  been  drugged  and  then  robbed  in 
Cheyenne ;  and  the  gang  of  sharps  and  gamblers  was 
ever  on  the  lookout  for  him.  Indeed,  if  the  truth 
must  be  told,  Bryan  was  far  more  distressed  by  the  loss 
of  his  money  than  by  Nanny's  grief  over  his  inebriety. 
He  was  a  miser  who  had  hoarded  no  one  knew  how 
much.  He  owned  valuable  lots  in  town  ;  he  owned 
big  herds  in  the  foot-hills  ;  he  lent  money  at  usurious 
interest,  and  had  a  balance  in  the  First  National  that 


264  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

would  have  made  many  a  penniless  subaltern  rejoice 
with  exceeding  joy  could  it  but  be  transferred  to  him. 
Yet  all  the  time  he  protested  he  was  poor.  He  was 
close  and  exacting  in  every  bargain.  He  insisted  on 
lending  his  cows  to  the  officers  in  garrison  for  safe 
keeping  during  the  winter,  the  creatures  being  stall-fed 
and  cared  for  in  exchange  for  the  milk  they  gave ;  and 
yet  at  the  opening  of  the  spring  two  or  three  of  those 
meek  and  docile  mammals  would  mysteriously  dis 
appear.  The  back  doors  and  back  gates  would  be 
found  open ;  no  one  knew  how.  Bryan  would  be  noti 
fied.  His  herders  would  search  the  other  ranges  and 
swear  no  cows  with  his  brand  could  be  found,  and 
presently  the  old  fellow  would  come  riding  into  Russell 
with  a  long  face  and  a  longer  bill,  and  the  unwilling 
victim  of  his  liberality  would  have  to  pay  twenty-five 
or  thirty  dollars  for  a  cow  and  costs  of  search,  all  the 
time  feeling  pretty  certain  that  Brindle  was  placidly 
cropping  the  bunch-grass  somewhere  up  among  the 
foot-hills  with  Bryan's  herds  ;  but  he  couldn't  prove  it. 
It  got  to  be  a  sort  of  a  proverb  at  the  post.  "  Don't 
let  Bryan  lend  you  a  cow/'  was  the  advice  tendered 
each  new  arrival  among  the  married  officers.  And  as 
Blake  had  heard  all  about  it  in  the  summer,  when  the 
old  man  came  in  to  levy  what  were  called  his  cattle- 
taxes  on  the  outgoing  regiment,  his  comrades  in  the 
— th  had  been  given  due  warning.  "  Timeo  Danaos  et 
dona  ferentes"  said  he,  was  the  Latin  for  "  Take  none  oj 
Dan  Bryan's  for  rent — or  any  other  way."  There  were 
other  ranchmen  and  neighbors,  envious  of  his  increasing 
wealth  and  hating  him  for  his  miserly  ways,  who  swore 
that  old  Captain  Dan's  loyalty  to  the  flag  and  the  gov- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  265 

eminent  in  the  matter  of  giving  up  deserters  and  re 
vealing  the  whereabouts  of  stolen  property  was  all  a 
delusion  and  a  snare ;  that  he  only  surrendered  a 
deserter  when  sure  of  the  reward,  and  only  told  where 
stolen  stores  could  be  found  when  they  were  not  in  his 
own  dug-outs.  Certain  it  is  that  among  the  "  tough" 
element  which  herded  about  Cheyenne  he  had  a  host  of 
enemies,  powerful  and  implacable,  and  more  than  once 
had  he  been  warned  that  his  life  would  be  the  penalty 
for  further  disclosures.  But  Bryan  now  had  a  dozen 
stalwart  men  among  his  employes,  and  was  grit  to  the 
backbone.  He  simply  defied  the  gang.  He  had  been 
one  of  the  first  to  come  in  and  join  the  searching  parties 
after  Granger's  disappearance  was  announced.  He  was 
the  first  to  declare  that  so  far  from  believing  that 
Major  Granger  had  fled  because  of  discoveries  of  pec 
ulation  and  embezzlement,  it  was  his  profound  convic 
tion  that  he  had  been  foully  dealt  with. 

And  so  the  moment  he  heard  from  the  lips  of  his 
herdsmen  that  day  that  Brooks  and  Grimsby  had  been 
at  a  certain  lonely  shack,  or  herdsmen's  shelter,  down 
the  valley  the  previous  night,  old  Bryan  hastened  in  to 
the  fort  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  post  commander. 

"  You  have  done  us  a  great  service,  Captain  Bryan," 
said  Atherton,  "and  I  am  under  many  obligations  to 
you.  It  is  a  matter  in  which  we  shall  have  to  invoke 
the  aid  of  the  sheriff,  for  of  course  we  have  no  right 
to  search  the  shack.  But  you  heard,  I  suppose,  how 
fruitless  was  the  search  of  Einstein's  premises  to-day ; 
though  Mr.  Ray  tracked  the  wagon  to  their  very  doors, 
and  they  had  hundreds  of  dollars'  worth  of  cartridges 
for  which  they  could  show  no  invoices  at  all." 
M  23 


266  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Certainly,  colonel ;  they  simply  burned  the  boxes 
and  paper  cases,  and  scattered  the  other  things  all  over 
town.  As  for  oats  and  barley,  they  bust  open  the  bags 
and  dump  them  into  the  general  bin,  then  burn  the 
bags.  But  I  believe  if  we  move  at  once  we  can  nab 
the  fellows  at  that  shack  down  the  Crow  Valley,  and 
to-night's  the  time." 

"  I  will  wire  the  sheriff  at  once,  captain,  to  meet  the 
officer  I  sent  in,  and  we  will  lose  not  a  moment.  Of 
course  he'll  be  glad  to  have  your  statement  and  that 
of  your  herdsman,  but  in  all  earnestness  I  think  you 
and  Jim  ought  to  go  no  further.  These  people  have 
threatened  your  life,  I  hear;  and  if  it  were  known 
that  our  information  came  from  you,  it  would  only  in 
tensify  their  desire  for  revenge.  Let  us  attend  to  all 
further  details  in  this  matter." 

"Colonel  Atherton,  Frn  an  old  soldier.  I  fought 
alongside  of  your  men  at  Winchester  and  Cedar  Creek, 
and  no  thieving  cad  can  scare  me.  I  owe  them  fellows 
more  than  one  grudge  now,  and  I  want  them  to  know 
it  was  me  that  set  the  officers  of  law  on  the  right 
track.  I  want  to  be  there  when  they  surround  that 
shack  to-night." 

"  But  they  have  confederates  everywhere,  captain. 
They  have  or  had  associates  in  this  very  garrison,  I 
regret  to  say.  You  are  often  at  your  ranch  alone  or 
with  only  a  man  or  two ;  they  could  easily  surprise 
you,  and  then  I'm  thinking  too  for  your  daughter; 
how  would  she  fare  at  the  hands  of  such  a  crowd  ?" 

Old  Bryan's  face  paled.  "I'll  'low  that's  strong 
argument,  colonel.  She  won't  leave  n;e,  though. 
Captain  and  Mrs.  Freeman  have  been  mighty  kind  to 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  267 

my  girl,  and  kept  her  here  often.  She's  better  bred 
than  I  am ;  she's — she's  more  like  her  poor  mother." 
And  here  he  hitched  uneasily  in  his  chair  and  turned 
his  grizzled  face  away,  winking  hard  ;  and  there  was 
silence  in  the  room.  Then  as  suddenly  he  whirled 
about  again  : 

"  Colonel,  I — I  want  you  to  understand  something. 
It  ain't  that  I  grudge  the  money, — it  ain't  that  I 
wouldn't  send  her  East  to  school.  Fve  tried  hard  to 
get  her  to  go  East.  It  ain't  what  people  say  at  all. 
All  I've  got  in  the  world  ain't  good  enough  for  that 
little  girl  of  mine.  She's  stood  by  me  when — when 
I  didn't  know  her."  And  he  bowed  his  old  head  and 
drew  his  hand  over  his  blinking  eyes.  "  I  want  her 
to  go,  and  be  educated  and  be  a  lady.  No !  She  is 
a  lady,  and  her  mother  was  before  her;  but  she  just 
clings  to  me,  and  says  she  never  will  go, — never  will 
leave  her  old  dad,  by  God  !"  And  here  he  broke  off 
with  a  sob  and  covered  his  face  with  a  big  red  ban 
danna;  then  rose  hastily  and  tramped  over  to  the 
window,  hiding  his  face  from  all.  It  was  a  minute  or 
so  before  he  could  recover  himself,  then  after  vigorous 
rubbing  of  his  eyes  he  returned  to  them. 

"I  had  to  lie  to  her  to  get  away  this  time.  I  said 
I'd  be  with  her  again  just  as  soon  as  I'd  seen  you. 
But  it  won't  be  out  there,  if  Captain  Freeman  will  be 
so  kind  as  to  send  over  to  the  ranch  for  her.  The  old 
place  can  take  care  of  itself  to-night.  I'm  going  in 
with  the  sheriff.  I'm  going  to  help  run  that  gang  to 
earth ;  and,  by  God,  Colonel  Atherton,  I  believe  that 
before  another  sunrise  I'll  know  what's  become  of 
Major  Granger." 


268  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

MRS.  FREEMAN'S  bright  little  home  was  rather 
crowded  by  the  time  tattoo  was  sounded  this  crisp, 
starlit  evening.  Everybody  seemed  to  know  that  she 
and  the  captain  had  driven  away  tp  Bryan's  ranch  the 
moment  the  old  fellow  left  the  garrison  to  join  the  sheriff 
in  town,  and  that  "  Prairie  Nan"  was  with  them  when 
they  returned.  Nearly  everybody  was  eager  to  know 
what  Bryan  had  told  the  colonel,  and  Freeman  was  the 
only  available  person  from  whom  the  information  could 
be  extracted, — Truscott  having  ridden  away  on  some 
mysterious  mission  to  the  depot,  and  the  major  and 
the  adjutant  being  still  closeted  with  their  chief. 
People  felt  that  something  had  been  heard  of  Major 
Granger  and  were  incredulous  and  disappointed  when 
Freeman  assured  them  that  not  a  trace  had  been 
discovered. 

"  If  it  wasn't  something  about  Major  Granger  that 
kept  you  all  up  there  so  long,  then  what  was  it  ?"  de 
manded  Mrs.  Turner,  who,  after  a  few  days'  pathetic 
retirement  and  seclusion,  another  day  or  two  of  despe 
rate  effort  to  play  the  role  of  patient  and  uncomplaining 
suffering,  was  now  with  redoubled  ardor  and  interest 
beginning  to  "  take  notice"  again. 

"Nothing  at  all  beyond  a  report  from  old  Bryan 
that  one  of  his  men  had  found  the  possible  whereabouts 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  269 

of  the  magazine  and  stable  thieves,"  answered  Free 
man,  good-naturedly. 

"  Oh,  if  all  I  hear  is  true,  Captain  Bryan's  people  . 
know  a  heap  more  about  the  way  things  have  been 
stolen  here  for  years  past  than  Colonel  Atherton  could 
find  out  if  he  worked  a  lifetime,"  began  Mrs.  Turner, 
excitedly,  though  Turner  shot  his  warning  glance,  and 
then,  stepping  to  her  side,  managed  to  check  further 
flow  of  eloquence,  as  Nannie,  having  discarded  her 
warm   wraps,   was  ushered    into  the   brightly-lighted 
little  parlor.     Just  now  Mrs.  Turner's  grievance  was 
mainly  against  the  colonel.     He  had  showered  honors 
and  attentions  on  Mrs.  Granger,  she  said,  whom  every 
body  now,  at  least,  knew  in  her  true  light, — she  was  a 
"  professional,"  and  had  no  business  playing  with  ama 
teurs  and  concealing  her  real  self  from  them  until  the 
last  moment.     She  never  thought  the  colonel  would 
have   neglected  the  ladies  of  his  regiment,  who  had 
always  been  so  loyal  to  him,  for  the  sake  of — of  "a  mere 
adventuress."     But  Mrs.  Turner  was  both  indignant 
and  illogical.    She  could  never,  of  course,  be  brought  to 
believe  that  no  woman  in  the  — th  had  so  fiercely  criti 
cised  the  colonel's  orders  and  disciplinary  methods  as 
herself,  and  that  she  was  about  the  last  of  the  lot  to 
rightly  set  up  the  claim  of  loyalty  to  him;  she  ignored, 
of  course,  the  fact  that,  by  her  going  directly  home 
from  the  theatricals,  all  possibility  of  congratulation 
or  courtesy  from  the   commanding  officer   had  been 
barred  as  far  as  she  was  concerned.    Eager  to  hear  any 
news  that  might  be  abroad,  she  had  insisted  on  running 
up  to  the  Freemans'  at  tattoo,  and  Turner  obediently 
went  along,  watchful  of  her  every  move,  and  plainly 

23* 


270  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

striving  to  keep  her  out  of  mischief.  It  so  happened 
that  the  Heaths  and  some  infantry  friends  had  dropped 
in  about  the  same  time,  and,  always  kindly  and  hospita 
ble,  Mrs.  Freeman  had  not  only  begged  them  all  to 
stay  and  "  have  a  little  bite  by  and  by,"  but  she  sent 
out  for  two  of  Nan's  girl  friends  in  garrison.  Some 
thing  must  be  done,  she  argued,  to  keep  the  child  from 
brooding  over  her  father's  absence,  which,  all  too  evi 
dently,  Nan  believed  to  be  upon  some  fateful  and 
dangerous  errand. 

And  so  it  happened  that  all  was  mirth  and  laughter, 
feasting  and  jollity  when  the  summons  came. 

Somewhere  about  eleven  o'clock  the  colonel  himself 
appeared  at  Freeman's  quarters  and  called  him  out  on 
the  veranda. 

"  Expecting  trouble,"  said  he,  "  I  told  the  operator 
to  remain  at  his  instrument  this  evening.  This  has 
just  come." 

So  saying  he  handed  Freeman  a  despatch,  which  the 
latter  carried  close  to  the  window  and  read  by  the 
bright  light  from  within.  It  was  from  the  sheriff: 

"  Sharp  tussle  at  the  shack ;  Bryan  badly  shot ; 
wants  to  see  his  daughter  at  once ;  the  doctor  is  taking 
him  to  the  depot." 

"  How  can  she  go  ?"  asked  the  colonel,  presently. 
"  Mrs.    Freeman   and  I    will   take   her   at   once," 
answered  the  captain.      "  Doesn't  it  look   to  you  as 
though  they  had  failed  to  make  any  arrests  ?" 

"  I  am  afraid  so.  He  must  have  had  too  small  a 
posse." 

An  hour  later  an  anxious  group  was  gathered  in  the 
steward's  room  of  the  little  hospital  at  the  depot.  The 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  271 

time  had  been  when  all  the  sick  among  the  army  of 
employes  of  the  supply  department  had  been  turned 
loose  on  the  town  or  sent  up  to  the  post  for  treatment ; 
but  after  the  big  campaign  of  76  the  officials  had  suc 
ceeded  in  having  a  sort  of  emergency  hospital  attached 
to  the  depot,  with  a  contract  doctor  and  a  steward. 
Never  anticipating  a  determined  resistance  or  any  really 
serious  affray,  the  sheriff  had  taken  with  him  only  two 
deputies  when  starting  out  from  town  to  investigate 
matters  at  the  shack  to  which  Bryan  was  so  eager  to 
guide  him.  It  lay  down  in  the  valley  under  the  shelter 
of  the  bluffs  nearly  a  mile  west  of  the  business  centre 
of  the  town  and  almost  as  far  off  the  lines  of  travel. 
Long  it  had  borne  a  bad  name,  but  rarely  were  there 
more  than  two  or  three  men  gathered  about  it  either  by 
night  or  day,  and  the  sheriff  had  so  often  occasion  to 
go  thither  with  a  warrant  of  some  kind  that  he  had 
grown  accustomed  to  the  trip  and  looked  upon  it  as  a 
useless  bore.  The  colonel's  note  and  Bryan's  eagerness 
had  only  partially  aroused  his  interest. 

"  We  won't  find  anything  there,"  he  said ;  "  those 
fellows  are  not  fools  enough  to  remain  in  this  neighbor 
hood,  and  as  for  any  government  property,  it's  scattered 
all  over  Wyoming  by  this  time,  and  you'll  never  see 
hide  nor  hair  of  it  again." 

But  Bryan  persisted.  The  sheriff  summoned  a  brace 
of  deputies  ;  the  party  mounted  their  horses  ;  rode  out 
westward,  then  down  into  the  breaks  of  the  stream, 
and  presently  came  in  view  of  the  twinkling  lights  at 
the  hut.  Dismounting  there,  with  the  contempt  of  easy 
familiarity  the  sheriff  hammered  on  the  door  and  de 
manded  admission.  Shuffling  feet,  excited  whispers,  and 


272  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

the  sound  of  a  scuffle  were  the  immediate  replies.  Again 
he  hammered  with  the  butt  of  his  Colt.  Then  all  was 
silence  and  the  light  went  out. 

Angered  now  at  the  defiance  to  his  authority,  the 
sheriff  ordered  his  men  to  burst  in  the  door.  It  took 
hard  work  and  much  time.  When  it  suddenly  gave 
way  three  stalwart  men  went  tumbling  blindly  into  the 
shack,  and  found  themselves  sprawling  on  the  earthen 
floor,  while  with  a  rush  and  a  smothered  laugh  three  or 
four  active  fellows  had  leaped  past  them  into  the  open 
air ;  had  mounted  the  horses  of  the  sheriff's  party,  and 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  were  dashing  off  townwards. 
One  of  them  old  Bryan  had  essayed  to  stop, — the  last 
and  the  heaviest  built.  A  pistol  flashed  in  the  dark 
ness.  The  sheriff,  running  to  the  scene,  heard  the  hoof- 
beats  dying  away  in  the  distance,  and  fell  flat  over  the 
prostrate,  bleeding  form  of  the  old  volunteer.  The 
lights  of  the  great  depot  shone  not  far  away  across  the 
snow-streaked  prairie,  and  thither  one  of  his  men  ran 
for  the  doctor ;  thither  was  old  Bryan  tenderly  borne, 
while  the  sheriff,  exasperated  and  chagrined,  hurried 
back  to  town  to  find  his  horses  and  telegraph  to  the  post. 

And  now  at  midnight  the  old  ranchman  lay  gasping 
in  the  hospital  ward.  Nannie,  white  and  tearful,  but 
very  quiet  and  self-possessed,  was  kneeling  by  his  side, 
wiping  the  death-dews  from  his  forehead  and  soothing 
his  agony  as  best  she  knew  how.  Doctor  Pease  had 
been  summoned  down  from  the  fort,  and  he,  too,  had 
shaken  his  head  in  answer  to  the  mute  appeal  in  the 
daughter's  big,  brimming  eyes.  The  old  man  was 
bleeding  internally,  and  there  was  little  hope  of  his 
lasting  until  dawn.  He  was  semi-conscious  only.  He 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  273 

clung  to  Nannie  with  a  love  that  was  piteous  in  its 
tenderness  and  intensity.  He  seemed  to  think  only  of 
and  for  her.  When  he  could  speak  at  all  it  was  to  tell 
her  how  now  she  must  go  East,  go  to  her  mother's  people 
and  be  a  lady, — be  educated.  He  implored  Mrs.  Free 
man  and  the  captain  to  continue  their  goodness  to  his 
little  girl. 

"  I'm  all  she  had  in  the  world  until  you  came,  and 
I  was — worse  than  a  burden  to  her,"  he  almost  sobbed  ; 
"  but  she'll  need  for  nothing  now,  if  you'll  only  be  a 
friend  to  her,  ma'am,"  he  said,  looking  imploringly  up 
into  Mrs.  Freeman's  sweet  and  sympathetic  face. 

"  Indeed,  we've  all  learned  to  love  her,  captain,"  was 
the  answer.  "  Never  fear  that  she'll  not  be  as  one  of 
our  own."  And  Freeman,  too,  whom  the  bluff  old 
soldier  had  learned  to  regard  with  respect  and  confi 
dence,  added  his  assurances  to  those  of  his  wife.  It 
seemed  to  comfort  Bryan,  for  he  patted  Nannie's  long, 
slender  hand  and  soon  fell  away  into  a  semi-comatose 
state.  Then  came  delirious  intervals,  and  both  the 
doctors  and  the  steward  were  needed  to  restrain  him, 
for  he  began  to  toss  upon  the  bed,  to  struggle  with  the 
attendant  and  to  glare  at  the  corners  of  the  room  with 
savage  hate  in  his  eyes. 

"  Give  me  that  knife,"  he  cried  ;  "  I  haven't  had  a 
fair  show  in  this  fight.  You  shot  me  in  the  dark,  you 
cockney  hound  ! — you  and  your  cowardly  pals  !  What 
have  you  done  with  your  own  master  ?  Where  have 
you  hidden  Granger,  I  say?  You  robbed  him,  you 
hounds  !  you  know  you  did,  and,  when  he  turned  on 
you,  killed  him.  Where  have  you  hidden  him,  I  say? 
You  know,  you  white-livered  scoundrel,  you  Grimsby. 


274  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

You  know,  damn  you !     Don't  shoot — don't  shoot  an 
unarmed  man,  you  coward.    Give  me  that  knife,  I  say." 

And  so  lie  raved  and,  in  his  struggles,  he  wellnigh 
broke  from  the  attendant's  grasp. 

Pease  and  the  younger  physician  stepped  into  the 
adjoining  room  a  moment,  when,  exhausted,  the  old 
man  fell  back  on  his  pillow,  panting  and  trembling, 
his  long  fingers  clutching  at  the  bedclothes.  Even 
Nannie,  weeping  and  piteously  calling  him,  could  not 
now  command  his  wandering  thoughts.  His  soul 
seemed  passing  away  in  some  wild,  fierce  dream.  He 
was  defying  some  band  of  outlaws  whose  secrets  he 
knew,  whose  plans  he  had  frustrated ;  he  was  sur 
rounded  by  them,  death  was  staring  him  in  the  face, 
but  to  the  bitter  end  he  taunted  them  with  the  failure 
of  their  schemes  and  with  the  fact  that  he  had  unearthed 
their  plots  and  given  warning  to  the  authorities. 

"  You'll  never  trap  another  man,  damn  you !"  he 
shouted  again.  "  You  made  Granger  your  tool,  your 
dupe  ;  but  he  was  in  your  toils  when  he  came  here. — 
You  fellow,  —you  Brooks.  You're  the  man  that  knifed 
him.  You  and  Grimsby  would  have  sucked  him  dry, 
wouldn't  you?  But  I  was  on  to  you — I  was  on  to 
you.  You'll  get  no  cash  from  her  either,  you  infernal 
blackmailers.  I'll  warn  her,  too.  Yes,  shoot,  shoot, 
if  you  dare.  Where  have  you  hidden  his  body,  I 
say?"  And  again  he  fell  back  weaker  still.  Pease 
knelt  and  gently  forced  the  stimulant  between  his 
setting  teeth. 

"Mrs.  Granger  has  sent  for  me,"  whispered  the 
depot  doctor  to  his  superior.  "Shall  I  tell  her?" 
And  he  nodded  suggestively  towards  the  dying  man. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  275 

"  Yes,  there's  no  saying  how  much  of  this  is  sus 
picion,  and  how  much  actual  knowledge.  What  do 
you  think,  Freeman  ?" 

"  If  it  is  only  raving,  there  is  a  volume  behind  it 
all,"  was  the  answer.  "  Is  there  no  way  of  finding 
out  what  he  does  know  ?" 

"  Too  late,  Fm  afraid.  He  knows  these  people  well, 
that's  evident ;  but  I  doubt  if  there  is  anything  more 
than  mere  suspicion  at  the  bottom  of  it  all.  Didn't  the 
sheriff's  deputies  say  they  were  going  down  to  search 
those  premises  to-night  and  take  a  strong  posse  with 
them?" 

"  Yes,  that's  why  they  hurried  back  to  town.  Try 
and  coax  Nannie  into  the  next  room  a  few  moments ; 
I  want  to  look  at  him." 

But  even  Mrs.  Freeman  could  hardly  persuade  the 
child  to  leave  her  father  for  a  moment.  It  was  only 
when  Freeman  lifted  her  from  her  knees  and  almost 
bore  her  into  the  adjoining  room  that  she  would  con 
sent  to  go  with  him.  Bryan  was  perceptibly  grow 
ing  fainter;  the  violence  of  his  delirium  was  over, 
ancl  every  moment  his  breath  seemed  to  nutter, 
shorter  and  shorter.  Pease  was  doing  all  his  skill 
could  suggest  to  prolong  life  and  restore  him  to 
partial  consciousness  and  strength.  So  much  seemed 
to  depend  on  his  telling  them  the  exact  truth  and  the 
nature  of  his  knowledge  or  suspicion.  In  the  steward's 
room  Nannie  had  been  persuaded  to  sip  some  tea. 
Then  all  was  silent  in  the  little  wooden  hospital, 
and  the  child  had  thrown  herself  on  her  knees  and 
buried  her  face  in  Mrs.  Freeman's  lap,  when  there  was 
a  sound  of  low  voices  without  and  footsteps  on  the 


276  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

creaking  board-walk.  The  steward's  wife  opened  the 
door,  and  there  on  the  threshold,  throwing  back  her 
mantle,  pallid,  heavy-eyed,  but  beautiful,  stood  Mrs. 
Granger.  Behind  her  were  Mrs.  Morris  and  the  doctor. 

Freeman  stepped  forward  to  greet  her ;  Mrs.  Free 
man  flushed,  but  bowed  with  quiet  courtesy.  The  new 
comers  paused  but  a  moment  at  the  door-way.  Mrs. 
Granger  swept  one  quick  glance  round,  then  in  low, 
awe-stricken  tone,  inquired, — 

"  Is  there  no  hope  ?     Can  nothing  be  done  ?" 

Freeman  shook  his  head  and  pointed  to  Nan,  who 
was  again  silently  weeping. 

"  And  yet  he  knows  something — perhaps  everything 
— of  my  husband's  disappearance.  Captain  Freeman, 
I  must  see  him,  I  must  ask,  I  must  know.  This 
suspense  is  far  worse  than  any  truth  can  be.  Is  Doctor 
Pease  not  with  him  ?" 

"  Doctor  Pease  is  there  doing  all  he  can.  I  am  not. 
at  all  sure  that  he  really  knows  anything  of  the  major's 
disappearance,  but  he  certainly  has  had  some  suspicion, 
Mrs.  Granger.  He  has  said  nothing  that  would  give 
any  definite  idea  or  clue." 

"He  has  mentioned  Grimsby's  name,  has  he  not? — 
and  Brooks,  that  dreadful  fellow  who  seemed  to  follow 
him  everywhere.  Surely  he  must  have  some  reason 
for  accusing  them.  Surely  he  knows  while  we  are 
groping  in  the  dark." 

And  then  Pease  came  from  the  inner  room  and  took 
her  hand  : 

"I  fear  that  if  he  knew  anything  at  all,  Mrs. 
Granger,  it  is  past  finding  out.  I  fear,"  he  whispered, 
"he  can  never  rally  again." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  277 

She  covered  her  face  with  the  white  jewelled  hands 
and  sank  despairingly  upon  the  rude  hair-cloth  sofa. 
Mrs.  Morris  was  promptly  at  her  side  striving  to  soothe 
and  cairn  her. 

"  She  has  had  such  an  awful  week  of  it,  captain," 
the  lady  explained  to  Freeman.  "  Absolutely  no 
tidings  at  all,  and  yet  all  manner  of  people  coming 
out  from  town  inquiring  for  particulars,  and  all  sorts 
of  men  coming  who  pretended  they  had  clues  and  only 
wanted  money  to  work  them  up.  She  has  been  nearly 
distracted,  and  so  friendless  through  it  all,"  added  Mrs. 
Morris,  with  a  glance  of  reproach  at  Mrs.  Freeman. 

But  Freeman  had  no  time  to  waste  on  controversy. 
He  knew  well  enough  that  one  after  another  those 
ladies  who  had  gone  from  the  garrison  to  tender  sym 
pathy  or  service  had  been  met  at  the  door  by  Mrs. 
Granger's  message  of  thanks,  but  there  was  really 
nothing  they  could  do.  The  hands  of  the  clock  were 
pointing  to  quarter  of  three.  Nannie  had  again  stolen 
back  to  the  side  of  the  dying  man,  when  once  more 
the  feeble  voice  was  heard,  and  Pease  came  and  beck 
oned.  Mrs.  Granger  started  up  and  followed  him  be 
yond  the  door-way  of  the  other  room.  Taking  his 
wife's  hand  Freeman  bent  over  and  whispered  a  few 
words,  then  noiselessly  stepped  into  the  dimly-lighted 
chamber. 

Bryan  knew  his  daughter  again,  and  the  feeble  hand 
was  vainly  striving  to  caress  the  ringlets  that  curled 
about  her  forehead,  while  the  appealing  eyes,  dark 
with  the  solemn  shadow  of  death,  gazed  yearningly 
into  her  sweet,  tearful  face. 

"They'll  be  good  to  yon,  Nan,"  he  whispered. 
24 


278  CAPTAIN  BLAKE, 

"  You'll  be  a  lady  now  like  your  mother,  girl ;  you 
won't  have  no  more  worry  about  the  old  man." 

"  Oh,  papa  !  papa  !"  she  wailed,  "  stop  saying  that. 
Nan  loves  you  so  much  better  than  all  the  wide 
world." 

"  I  know,"  he  faintly  nodded, — "  I  know  ;  you  were 
always  such  a  loving  daughter,  Nannie  ;  always — even 

when  I    was "     And   he   tried   to  turn  away,  as 

though  the  old  shame  overpowered  him  even  here  at 
the  threshold  of  another  world.  It  was  then  that 
Pease  bent  over  him. 

"  Captain,"  he  said,  "  you  have  been  speaking  of 
Brooks,  or  Howell,  and  Grimsby  as  though  they  were 
the  men  who  shot  you,  and  as  though  they  were  the 
men  who  made  away  with  Major  Granger.  Tell  me 
what  you  know." 

"  Howell  ?  no  !     I  don't  know  him  ;  but  Brooks — 

Brooks !  ay,  he's  the  traitor — he's  the — he's  the 

Where's  my  knife,  Nan  ?  Keep  back  there  from  that 
door,  you  hounds !  Keep  back,  I  tell  you  !  I  will 
know  what  you  have  hidden  behind  that  shack;  I 
will,  if  I  have  to  bring  all  Lararnie  County  here  to 
hold  you.  Dig  away  there,  men  !  Dig  away  !  Toss 
it  out !  Toss  it  out !  Dig  into  that  snow  !  Ten  feet 
deep  ?  Suppose  it  is !  Suppose  it's  twenty  !  All  the 
more  would  they  pick  out  just  such  a  place  to  hide 
him.  Hang  on  to  those  fellows,  you  constables ;  that 
man  Brooks  will  have  your  own  knife  in  your  heart  if 
you're  not  careful.  I  know  him ;  I  know  the  whole 
gang.  They  killed  him !  They  killed  him,  I  tell 
you,  when  they  couldn't  bleed  him  any  more !  Give 
me  that  shovel !  You  can't  dig !  For  God's  sake, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  279 

make  those  men  work,  captain,  or  send  some  of  the 
boys  down  from  the  fort !  They'll  find  him  ;  they'll 
never  give  up.  It's  all  banked  solid  back  of  the 
shack — banked  solid  as  far  as  the  cooley  runs.  There's 
where  they've  hid  him,  and  I  know  it.  They've  had 
a  rope  around  his  neck  for  years,  and  now  at  last 
they've  pulled  it." 

He  struggled  faintly  to  rise,  his  eyes  glaring  with 
excitement,  his  tremulous  hands  outstretched.  In  vain 
Nannie  clung  to  one  of  them  and  plead  with  him  to 
speak  to  her, — to  forget  these  terrible  visions.  Mrs. 
Granger  had  stepped  forward  to  the  foot  of  the  bed, 
and  with  her  hands  clasped  stood  gazing  into  his  face, 
her  eyes  almost  protruding,  her  mouth  half  open, 
trembling  in  every  limb,  yet  listening  eagerly  for  every 
word.  Pease,  closely  watching  the  features  of  the  old 
soldier,  bent  over  Nannie's  kneeling  form.  Mrs. 
Freeman  had  stolen  to  her  husband's  side,  and  the 
tears  were  trickling  down  her  cheeks  as  she  stood, 
never  losing  sight  of  her  little  friend.  The  attendants 
were  supporting  Bryan  at  the  other  side  of  the  bed. 
Mrs.  Morris  was  sniffling  audibly  at  the  door. 

"You  don't  half  work,"  whispered  the  old  man. 
"  You  don't  half  work.  Give  me  the  shovel,  I  say. 
Didn't  I  promise  the  colonel  I'd  find  him  ?  Him  and 
me  fought  at  Winchester  together.  You  wouldn't 
have  me  go  back  on  him  now.  Keep  on,  I  tell  you! 
Keep  on  there !  Dig — dig  as  if  the  gold  of  all  Wyo 
ming  was  massed  in  that  gulch  !  My  God  !  can't  you 
find  nothing  ?" 

Outside,  slow  hoof-beats  were  coming  up  the  road, 
but  no  one  heard  within.  All  senses  were  engrossed 


280  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

in  the  solemn  scene  before  them.  Seeing  the  light  in 
the  little  hospital,  the  foremost  horseman  stopped  and 
held  low-toned  consultation  with  the  two  who  followed. 
Once  more  the  gleam  seemed  brightening  in  the  old 
man's  eyes.  Once  more  he  strove  to  lift  himself  from 
the  pillow. 

"  Look  !"  he  suddenly  cried ;  "  look  !  YouVe  got 
him  !  YouVe  got  it !  Didn't  I  tell  you,  colonel  ? — 
didn't  I  say  that — before  another  sunrise  I'd  know 
what — what  had — become  of  Granger  ?" 

And  then  some  one  began  knocking  at  the  door.  It 
was  one  of  the  sheriff's  men,  who  shrank  back  the 
moment  he  caught  sight  of  Mrs.  Granger. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  281 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

WHEN  the  command  turned  out  for  stables  in  the 
wintry  dawn  of  the  day  that  soon  broke  upon  the 
wide  prairie  wastes,  the  word  went  round  from  mouth 
to  mouth  that  old  Captain  Bryan  was  killed  in  an 
attempt  to  capture  some  desperadoes  at  the  shack  down 
the  valley  near  the  railway  bridge,  and  that  Major 
Granger's  body  had  been  found  in  the  ravine  behind 
the  hut,  frozen  stiff  and  buried  deep  in  the  snow-drifts. 
But  the  command  did  not  know  the  message  brought 
to  the  colonel  by  Freeman, — that  the  sheriff's  people 
had  found  a  gaping  bullet  wound  in  the  right  side  of 
the  head;  the  face,  hair,  and  whiskers  burned  with 
powder,  and  the  major's  own  revolver,  with  one  cham 
ber  discharged,  lying  close  by  the  stiffened  right  hand. 
The  officials  pronounced  it  a  case  of  suicide,  but  the 
coroner's  inquest  was  yet  to  be  held. 

Of  the  inmates  of  the  shack  not  a  trace  was  to  be 
found.  Just  how  many  men  had  leaped  past  the  little 
party  of  the  sheriff  no  one  knew.  They  had  gone 
with  four  horses,  at  all  events,  and  though  the  horses 
were  found  inside  of  an  hour  loose  in  the  streets  of 
the  town,  no  sign  of  their  latest  riders  had  been  ob 
tained.  The  sheriff  was  "  tearing  mad."  Never  before 
had  he  found  such  a  formidable  party  at  the  shack ; 
never  had  they  failed  to  surrender  at  his  demand,  and 

24* 


282  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

throw  open  the  premises  for  inspection.  It  was  a  new 
gang,  he  swore,  and  suspicion  pointed  to  Brooks,  or 
"Howell,"  Grimsby,  and  some  of  their  tough  associates. 
But  whither  had  they  vanished  ?  Every  saloon,  every 
dive  or  den  in  town  was  searched,  and  they  hadn't  even 
been  heard  of.  They  could  have  got  their  own  horses 
and  gone  away,  he  knew ;  but  no  stablemen  would  ad 
mit  having  seen  or  heard  anything  of  their  horses. 
That  they  should  have  abandoned  those  of  the  sheriff's 
posse  was  natural  enough.  All  Wyoming  knew  that 
brand ;  and,  however  slow  the  frontiersman  might  be 
to  hang  a  fellow-citizen  for  shooting  a  man,  there  was 
only  the  short  shrift  and  sudden  cord  for  him  who 
borrowed  his  neighbor's  horse. 

By  noon  the  coroner's  jury  had  finished  its  labors  in 
both  cases.  "  Died  of  gunshot  wounds  inflicted  by 
person  or  persons  unknown,"  was  the  verdict  in  the 
case  of  old  Bryan ;  and  "  died  of  gunshot  wounds  in 
flicted  by  person  or  persons  unknown"  was  eventually 
the  finding  in  the  other,  though  for  a  long  time  a 
minority  of  that  intelligent  body,  the  jury,  had  held 
out  for  the  additional  words, "  but  with  suicidal  intent," 
which  would  have  made  the  finding  most  unique  and 
sensational. 

That  night  a  guard  of  honor  stood  by  the  remains 
of  the  sturdy  old  volunteer  in  the  post-hospital  at  the 
fort,  and  a  similar  detail  was  tendered  at  the  depot,  the 
residence  of  the  late  Major  Granger,  but  was  civilly 
declined.  At  sunset  on  the  second  day  a  solemn  little 
corUge  filed  out  from  the  garrison,  and  the  old  trooper 
ranchman  was  buried  with  military  honors  in  the  little 
prairie  cemetery,  and  Nannie  Bryan,  fatherless,  mother- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  283 

less,  and  wellnigh  alone  in  the  world,  was  borne  weep 
ing  desolately  back  to  the  Freeman's  peaceful  fireside. 
When  the  east-bound  express  left  the  station  one  day 
later,  the  remains  of  the  deceased  official  of  the  supply 
department  were  accorded  transportation  in  the  coldest 
corner  of  the  baggage-car,  while  his  disconsolate  relict, 
superb  in  her  mourning  garb,  was  stowed  in  the 
warmest,  snuggest  state-room  of  the  Pullman  sleeper, 
Mrs.  Morris  devotedly  accompanying  her  friend  as  far 
as  Omaha ;  several  sympathizing  towns-  and  fort-people 
being  present  to  say  adieu,  and  the  last  man  to  bend 
over  her  black-gloved  hand  was  Tommy  Hollis,  who 
limped  in  on  crutches  to  say  good-by  and,  in  low  earnest 
tones,  to  promise  that  he  would  write  to  her  day  after 
day,  even  though  he  knew  she  would  be  unequal  to 
answering  yet  awhile. 

"  Two  men  gone  to  their  last  account,"  said  Mrs. 
Wilkins,  as  she  gazed  after  the  rapidly  disappearing 
train.  "  Two  men  gone  to  their  last  account,  and  two 
women  unexpectedly  made  wealthy  in  their  own  right. 
But  there's  nayther  of  them  for  you,  Tommy ;  mind 
that." 

Poor  Hollis  !  Heaven  only  knows  what  hopes  in 
spired  him  on  the  tedious,  painful  three-days'  journey 
down  from  Fetterman,  but  they  were  all  turned  to 
naught  in  less  than  no  time.  If  he  thought  to  pose  as 
the  convalescent  hero  at  the  fort,  that  hope  proved 
futile  for  just  two  reasons.  Wounded  officers  were  not 
such  rarities  in  the  — th  as  to  make  his  an  exceptional 
case  at  all,  and  even  if  there  had  been  a  disposition  to 
ignore  his  blunder  anent  the  ladies  german  and  restore 
him  to  high  favor  again,  his  very  first  move  on  getting 


284  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

within  hail  of  the  garrison  was  sufficient  to  unseat  him. 
He  ordered  the  driver  to  take  him  first  to  the  house  of 
mourning  at  the  depot.  He  had  telegraphed  his  sorrow, 
his  sympathy,  his  speedy  coming  from  every  possible 
point  en  route,  and  had  hastened  to  limp  into  her  adored 
presence,  and  had  actually  been  received. 

"  I  cannot  deny  a  few  minutes  to  that  loyal  and 
devoted  friend,"  she  had  explained  to  Mrs.  Morris. 
And  the  few  minutes  lengthened  to  nearly  an  hour  be 
fore  he  was  sent  away  ;  and  all  Kussell  knew  by  sunset 
that  she  had  granted  Tommy  an  interview,  while  deny 
ing  herself  to  everybody  else  except  Freeman  and 
Truscott,  whom  she  sent  for  to  consult  upon  her  hus 
band's  affairs. 

Pease  told  Hollis  that  if  he  left  his  quarters  and 
went  into  town  lor  any  purpose  whatever  he  would  not 
be  answerable  for  the  safety  of  that  leg,  but  Tommy 
was  not  to  be  deterred.  He  even  sought  the  medico's 
favorable  endorsement  upon  his  application  for  an  im 
mediate  leave  of  absence,  and  was  bluntly  refused.  He 
would  eagerly  have  welcomed  the  possibility  of  being 
her  escort  eastward,  even  when  he  needed  assistance 
more  than  she  did.  He  sounded  the  colonel  with  the 
suggestion  that  he,  Atherton,  should  telegraph  to  de 
partment  head-quarters  for  permission  for  the  invalided 
officer  to  start  east  at  once,  and  the  colonel  scouted  the 
idea.  He  was  really  seriously  the  worse  for  his  journey 
to  town  to  see  her  off,  and  was  cooped  up  in  his  quar 
ters  for  nearly  a  week,  and  no  ladies  came  to  condole 
with  him,  though  a  few  sent  jellies  and  delicacies,  and 
"  the  boys"  came  in  and  chaffed  him,  and  Mrs.  Wilkins 
loaded  them  with  messages,  inquiries,  and  cake  to  carry 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  285 

him.  He  wrote  long  letters  to  the  lovely  widow,  but 
could  expect  no  replies  for  a  long,  long  time,  as  she 
pathetically  had  told  him. 

And  then  Annie,  who  had  been  the  Granger's  second 
girl  at  the  depot,  and  was  now  out  of  employment, 
came  up  to  the  fort,  where  servants  were  always  scarce, 
and  was  presently  installed  in  the  place  of  "  Mina 
Next  Door ;"  and  in  turning  over  her  instructions  to 
her  friend  and  countrywoman,  Mina  doubtless  omitted 
those  given  by  Captain  Turner  to  the  effect  that  she 
was  not  to  venture  through  that  hole  in  the  fence. 
Mina  had  differed  with  her  mistress,  and  thought  she 
could  do  better  at  the  Heaths,  whose  girl  had  just 
married  Corporal  Finucane,  and  Annie  was  soon  as 
much  at  home  in  Mrs.  Turner's  kitchen  as  she  had  ever 
been  in  her  own. 

Meantime  the  late,  reluctant  spring  was  breaking. 
The  days  were  getting  longer,  warmer,  and  more  laden 
with  the  sweet  south  wind.  Tiny  little  flowerets,  snow- 
white, — the  Star  of  Bethlehem, — began  to  peep  out 
among  the  clumps  of  bunch-grass ;  the  snow  had 
softened  and  moistened  the  soil  and  gone  its  way  ;  even 
in  the  deepest  ravines  it  was  disappearing,  and  only  on 
the  lofty  peaks  far  down  the  Colorado  range,  and  up 
among  the  twisting  snow-sheds  on  the  great  divide  to 
the  west,  did  it  still  glisten  in  the  sunshine.  But  the 
little  starry  flowers  speedily  covered  the  rolling  waves 
of  prairie  like  a  snowy  fleece,  and  so  long  as  the  sun 
was  high  the  children  and  their  mothers  strolled  out 
over  the  broad  expanse  north  and  east  of  the  post, 
gathering  the  dainty  blossoms  by  the  handful,  and  all 
the  garrison  seemed  rejoicing  that  the  spell  of  the  grim 


286  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

frost-king  was  broken.  The  ice,  too,  went  whirling  out 
of  the  swollen  stream  and  banked  itself  high  around 
the  abutments  of  the  railway  bridge,  where  it  melted 
rapidly,  and  where  some  truant  town  boys,  not  having 
the  fear  of  territorial  school  commissioners  before  their 
eyes,  skylarking  about  the  east  pier,  came  suddenly 
upon  a  sight  that  frightened  a  few  of  them  into  running 
a  mile  before  they  stopped,  but  only  excited  the  morbid 
curiosity  of  the  stouter-hearted.  A  man's  hand  and 
arm  could  be  seen  among  the  ice  blocks,  and,  by  dint 
of  prying  off  the  uppermost,  they  came  finally  upon 
the  grewsome  remains  of  what  they  decided  to  be  a 
railway  tramp,  but  which  remains  were  identified  by 
the  coroner's  witnesses  that  evening  as  those  of  the 
long  missing  Grimsby,  and  Grimsby,  too,  had  been  shot 
through  the  head. 

No  papers,  no  money,  no  valuables  of  any  kind  were 
found  on  the  frozen  body.  The  coat  and  waistcoat 
were  gone ;  so  were  the  boots.  He  had  been  robbed 
as  well  as  murdered,  and  again  the  jury  found  the  de 
ceased  had  come  to  his  death  by  gunshot  wounds  in 
flicted  by  a  person  or  persons  unknown.  It  was  the 
stereotyped  form. 

And  then  came  the  detachments  back  from  the  field 
with  intimations  that  it  would  be  well  for  them  to  refit 
as  soon  as  possible  for  a  summer  campaign,  probably  in 
the  Big  Horn  country.  And  one  afternoon  the  tele 
graph  clicked  the  news  that  Lieutenant  Blake  with  his 
command  would  leave  Fetterman  on  their  homeward 
way  on  the  16th,  and  might  be  expected  at  Russell  by 
the  20th. 

"You  may  all  make   up  your  minds  to  it  now  as 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  287 

well  as  a  month  later,"  said  Mrs.  Atherton  ;  "  I  tell 
you  I  feel  it  in  the  air  this  regiment  is  going  out  on 
field  service  the  moment  the  grass  is  green  beyond  the 
Platte.  I  know  the  colonel  thinks  so;  and  it  will 
never  see  this  post  again  before  the  snows  fall.  Pm 
going  East." 

And  so,  it  seems,  were  others  of  the  ladies  of  the 
— th.  Mrs.  Stannard  had  long  since  made  up  her 
mind  that  she  and  Luce  would  run  in  for  a  visit  to  the 
old  home  they  had  seen  so  little  of  since  the  early  days 
of  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  Mrs.  Freeman  had  been 
promising  to  bring  the  children  to  see  their  devoted 
grandparents,  and  now,  too,  it  was  time  to  take  Nannie 
Bryan  to  her  mother's  people  and  see  her  safely  placed 
in  their  hands.  The  Greggs  household  were  only  wait 
ing  for  the  signal  for  the  cavalry  to  be  up  and  away  to 
take  the  first  train  and  "start  for  the  States."  Mrs. 
Truscott,  secretly  though  she  longed  to  show  her  fond 
old  father  that  phenomenal  baby,  could  not  be  induced 
to  think  of  going  so  long  as  Jack  senior  was  permitted 
to  stay ;  but  he  and  Freeman  had  been  thrown  into  com 
munication  with  Colonel  Rand,  of  department  head 
quarters,  quite  frequently  of  late,  settling  those  strangely 
tangled  affairs  of  Granger's,  and  Jack  said  there  could 
be  no  doubt  he  would  be  in  the  field  within  the  next 
month. 

"  And  won't  Mr.  Ray  have  difficulty  in  getting  his 
leave  if  that  be  the  case  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Grace,  with 
womanly  anxiety.  "Only  fancy  having— that  post 
poned." 

And  by  "  that"  Mrs.  Truscott  meant  a  certain  wed 
ding  in  which  she  was  deeply  interested  ;  the  wedding 


288  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

that  was  to  unite  the  dearest  friend  of  her  school-days 
to  the  man  of  all  others  in  the  regiment  of  whom  she 
and  Jack  most  approved, — this  same  Mr.  Ray. 

"  I  think  not,  dear.  No  hostilities  of  any  kind  are 
probable.  It  is  only  to  occupy  the  battle-grounds  of 
last  year,  and  scout  the  country  that  we  are  likely  to  be 
sent  up  there.  Besides,  Ray's  captain,  Buxton,  ought 
to  rejoin  by  that  time,  and  that  will  leave  two  officers 
with  the  troop  without  the  first  lieutenant.  What's 
more,  his  promotion  may  come  any  day  now,  and  that 
will  take  him  to  Sidney.  Oh,  no,  don't  worry  your 
bright  head  about  that.  We'll  have  that  wedding  in 
June,  though  I  shan't  see  it." 

"  Neither  will  I,  Jack,  without  you,"  said  Mrs. 
Grace,  almost  tearfully.  But  Captain  Truscott  had  his 
own  projects  on  that  matter,  and  wisely  kept  them  to 
himself. 

It  was  the  very  same  evening  that  they  had  the  news 
of  Blake's  homeward  march  that  Mrs.  Freeman  found 
she  desired  to  communicate  something  to  her  liege: 
"  He  will  be  here  on  Friday,  won't  he  ?"  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  Friday  afternoon  some  time.     Why  ?" 

"  Well,  you  were  saying  there  was  no  reason  why 
we  should  not  start  Saturday.  Now,  suppose  I  were  to 
say  that  we  could  all  be  ready  Thursday  as  well  as  not. 
Would  it  make  any  difference  if  we  went  then  ?" 

"  Why,  no ;  only  I  didn't  think  you  would  want  to 
go  before  you  had  to.  I'm  sure  the  children  don't." 

"  It  isn't  the  children ; — it  isn't  of  myself  I'm  think 
ing,"  she  answered,  with  heightening  color.  "  But  I 
think — I  know — Nannie." 

And  Freeman  only  answered,  "  Ah,  yes,  I  see." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  289 

And  so  it  happened  that  when  a  bearded  and  bright- 
eyed  Blake  came  riding  in  on  Friday  afternoon  to  be 
tumultuously  greeted  by  more  than  half  the  occupants 
of  officers7  row,  Captain  Freeman  was  among  the  first 
to  take  him  by  the  hand  and  bid  him  cordial  welcome. 

"  You  and  Ray  are  to  come  in  and  lunch  with  me 
just  as  you  are.  I  am  living  en  gargon  now.  The 
madam  and  the  olive-branches  deserted  me  yesterday." 

"  Yes,  you've  got  to,  Blakey,"  promptly  interposed 
Ray,  "  for  I  told  Hogan  he  needn't  have  anything  saved 
for  you,  we  would  lunch  with  Captain  Freeman." 

"  Zounds,  man !  I'd  lunch  with  Caliban  himself. 
Give  me  but  time  to  lave  these  road-stained  hands. — 
Wilkins,  thou  witless  wight,  how  is  it  with  thee  and 
thy  better  half?  and  thine,  Gregg,  old  man?  My 
heart  leaps  anew  at  sight  of  thee. — Oh,  hello,  Crane, 
how  are  you? — Excuse  me  now,  fellows,  just  let  me 
have  discourse  with  mine  ancient  here. — Any  letters, 
Billy  ?"  he  asked  in  lower  tone. 

"  Some  bills,  I  reckon,  nothing  else.  I've  forwarded 
everything  that  came,  up  to  the  15th.  Why  didn't 
you  answer  my  question  about  the — about  those  private 
letters  you  stowed  in  your  desk,  Legs  ?" 

"  Didn't  get  your  letter  until  just  about  as  we  were 
ordered  home.  I  thought  you  knew — I  burned  them. 
There  wasn't  a  thing  left  in  that  old  trap  of  a  desk 
that  was  worth  stealing,  and,  even  if  I  hadn't  burned 
them,  you  knew  they  were  harmless.  Why,  you  don't 
suppose  I  was  going  in  the  Indian  country  with  letters 
that  might  compromise  a  woman.  You  wouldn't  have 
me  found  dead  with  such  a  thing  as  that  about  me, 
would  you  ?" 

jx        t  25 


290  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  I  wouldn't  have  you  found  with  her  letters  about 
you  dead  or  alive,  Legs,  and  I'm  glad — more  glad  than 
I  can  tell  you — you're  done  with  it  all."  And  Ray 
looked  almost  wistfully,  for  him,  into  his  companion's 
face.  But  Blake  turned  away.  They  were  just  at  the 
little  gate  at  the  moment.  The  group  of  officers  was 
scattering,  some  going  homeward,  some  about  their 
garrison  duties.  Freeman  sang  out, — • 

"  You  come  in  as  soon  as  you  can,  will  you  ? — and 
I'll  order  luncheon  at  once." 

Several  noisy,  rosy-cheeked  children  precipitated 
themselves  upon  the  tall  lieutenant  at  this  and  clung 
in  assorted  sizes  about  his  long  legs,  and  Blake  demon 
stratively  greeted  them  one  and  all.  Then  Tommy 
Hollis  came  swinging  up  the  row  on  his  crutches,  show 
ing  every  one  of  his  handsome  teeth  under  the  dark 
thatch  of  his  mustache  in  genial  welcome  to  his  erst 
while  persecutor.  Tommy  could  no  more  cherish  ill 
will  or  malice  than  Ray  could  save  money,  and  Blake 
shook  hands  with  his  very  presentable  junior,  mentally 
contrasting  Tommy's  sleek  appearance  with  his  own 
travel-stained  garb,  and  raising  a  laugh  among  the 
comrades  again  within  hearing  by  a  jocular  allusion  to 
Hollis's  keeping  his  leg  in  a  sling. 

"  Hollis  is  boning  for  a  sick  leave,"  put  in  Crane, 
who,  undeterred  by  the  coldness  of  Blake's  greeting  to 
him  alone  of  the  entire  party,  seemed  bent  on  keeping 
on  speaking  terms.  "  He  wants  to  look  ill  enough  to 
soften  the  surgeon's  heart  in  the  first  place,  and  swell 
enough  to  captivate  his  lady-love  in  the  next." 

"Come  in,  Hollis;  come  in  and  see  a  fellow,"  said 
Blake,  with  more  cordiality  than  he  had  ever  shown 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  291 

before.  "  I  want  to  ask  you  something  about  that 
canon  where  you  had  your  fight,  while  I'm  dodging 
out  of  these  things.  Come  in,  man." 

"  Well-1,  say — hold  on  a  moment  and  I'll  be  with 
you,"  was  the  hesitating  answer,  as  Hollis  glanced 
anxiously  up  the  row  where  the  orderly  trumpeter 
could  now  be  seen  distributing  the  mail. 

"Oh,  come  now,"  said  Blake,  who  totally  ignored 
Crane  and  was  disengaging  himself  from  the  clasping 
arms  of  two  or  three  of  the  more  importunate  children. 
"Oh!  Is  it  the  mail  you're  looking  for?  Expect 
your  leave  to-day,  Thomas?  I'll  have  to  be  getting 
in  an  early  bid  for  mine,  won't  I,  Billy?"  he  continued 
in  lower  tone,  as  he  passed  his  arm  affectionately 
around  his  comrade's  square  shoulders.  "  Is  the  day 
named  yet? — June?" 

Ray  nodded,  then  strove  to  draw  his  tall  friend 
within  the  open  door-way  where  Hogan  stood,  with 
broad  Irish  grin  upon  his  face,  eager  to  welcome  home 
the  man  whom  next  to  his  own  troop  commander  he 
loved  and  swore  by.  But  some  odd  load  seemed  ham 
pering  Blake's  reluctant  feet.  He,  too,  by  this  time 
was  looking  anxiously  towards  the  coming  orderly,  who 
passed  Freeman  by  and  stepped  briskly  towards  the 
group,  the  packet  of  letters  in  his  white-gloved  hand. 
Ray  could  not  but  mark  the  deep  border  of  black  on 
the  topmost.  Entering  the  gate  with  precise  salute, 
the  young  trumpeter  passed  Hollis  by;  handed  to 
Blake  the  letter  in  the  mourning  envelope;  handed 
Ray  two  dainty  missives  addressed  in  feminine  super 
scription  ;  faced  about  and  stopped  short  where  Hollis 
queer  look  on  his  face — was  gazing  stupidly  at  the 


292  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

letter  Blake  was  now  stowing  in  a  breast-pocket ;  then 
turning  over  four  or  five,  he  selected  two  envelopes 
from  near  the  bottom  of  the  packet,  which  he  handed 
to  the  junior  lieutenant,  and  which  that  gentleman 
mechanically  took,  but  barely  glanced  at ;  his  troubled 
eyes  wandering  back  to  Blake,  who  was  now  turning 
away  to  enter  the  house,  when  Crane  burst  into  a 
jeering  laugh. 

"  You're  left,  Tommy.  She  won't  write  to  you  any 
more,  now  that  Legs  is  home." 

Ray  was  out  through  the  open  gate  in  about  a  second. 
For  nearly  two  months  he  had  not  spoken  to  or  noticed 
Crane  at  all.  Now  he  bristled  up  to  him  like  a  terrier 
to  some  thieving  hound. 

"  You  whelp  !"  he  muttered,  his  fists  clinching,  his 
dark  eyes  flashing.  "If  you  don't  want  me  to  throttle 
you  here  and  now — go !" 

"  Why  ?  What  in  thunder  have  I  said  that  concerns 
you  ?"  mumbled  the  other. 

"Get  out!  or,  ,  I'll  kick  you,"  was  the  sole 

reply.  And  Crane,  as  usual,  went  without  another 
word. 

When  Eay  faced  about  he  found  Blake  and  Hoi  1  is 
silently  regarding  each  other,  one  at  the  edge  of  the 
portico,  the  other  not  six  feet  away  on  the  narrow 
board-walk  to  the  gate. 

"  We'll  see  you  later,  Tommy,"  he  whispered.  "  I 
want  Blake  at  Freeman's  at  once.  Come,  Legs."  And 
so  saying,  he  drew  his  tall  companion  within  and  closed 
the  door.  For  a  moment  Hollis  remained  looking 
blankly  after  them,  then  slowly  hobbled  away,  his  left 
foot  lifted  from  the  ground.  Crane  had  halted  some 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  293 

distance  down  the  row,  his  face  crimson  with  wrath 
and  mortification.  He  turned  back,  seeing  Hollis 
alone. 

"  Say,  Tommy,  I'll  kill  that  fellow  Ray  some  day 
if  he  don't  quit  speaking  to  me  like  this.  I  was  only 
in  fun.  I  didn't  mean " 

But  it  was  useless  to  go  further,  for  with  a  shrug  of 
his  shoulder  Hollis  passed  him  by,  entered  his  own 
quarters,  and  slammed  the  door  behind  him. 


25* 


294  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

JUNE  came  in  bright,  radiant,  and  beautiful.  True 
to  regimental  prophecies,  the  — th  had  taken  the  field 
and  was  well  away  northward  at  the  slopes  of  the  Big 
Horn  Range,  leaving  Russell  to  its  guarding  detach 
ment  of  "  The  Riflers,"  with  placid  old  Waldron  in 
command,  with  the  band  of  the  — th  to  play  for  them, 
but  otherwise  with  hardly  a  yellow  stripe  to  be  seen 
in  garrison.  Several  of  the  officers'  quarters  were  va 
cated  and  the  domestic  Lares  and  Penates  were  visited 
every  few  days  by  the  temporary  post-quartermaster  to 
see  that  thieves  had  not  broken  in  and  stolen,  though 
this  was  a  matter  he  could  no  more  prevent  than  that 
moth  and  rust  should  corrupt.  Still,  since  the  mys 
terious  pillaging  of  Mr.  Blake's  quarters  early  in  the 
spring,  and  soon  after  the  great  storm,  nothing  of  the 
kind  had  been  heard  of  in  garrison.  Mr.  Foster, 
Waldron's  adjutant,  was  occupying  a  room  in  the 
Atherton's  big  house,  the  colonel  being  with  his  regi 
ment  in  the  field  and  her  ladyship  visiting  at  the  sea 
shore.  Another  infantry  bachelor  was  similarly  guard 
ing  the  Stannard's  house,  and  having  a  supervisory 
interest  in  the  Truscott's ;  Grace  and  Baby  Jack  having 
gone  East  the  day  Jack  senior  marched  for  the  Big 
Horn.  Mrs,  Waldron  dropped  in  every  day  or  two  to 
see  that  the  rats  were  not  eating  the  strings  of  Mrs. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  295 

Freeman's  piano,  wondering  what  she  could  do  if  she 
found  they  were.  A  large  contingent  of  the  ladies  and 
children  of  the  — th  still  remained  at  Russell,  and  were 
there  to  bid  good-by  to  Tommy  Hollis,  who  was  al 
lowed  a  three  months'  leave  in  which  to  recuperate, 
when  the  surgeon  said  he  was  not  in  condition  to  ride 
and  so  could  not  go  to  the  summer  camp  with  his  regi 
ment.  They  were  there  to  welcome  Blake  when  he 
came  trotting  back  from  Fetterman,  the  second  time  he 
had  made  the  trip  within  three  months  ;  for  everybody 
knew  by  this  time  he  had  a  sixty  days'  leave  in  which 
to  go  East  and  to  be  best  man  for  Billy  Ray,  who  was 
to  wed  Miss  Sanford  this  very  month,  and  a  "  swell" 
affair  it  was  to  be.  Everybody  seemed  to  know  that 
when  he  reached  the  post  three  letters,  edged  with 
black,  were  waiting  for  him  in  the  adjutant's  office,  and 
another  came  the  very  day  he  rode  in.  What  nobody 
knew,  but  everybody  could  conjecture,  was  the  number  of 
letters  in  that  same  superscription  and  mourning  guise 
that  had  been  going  up  to  the  Big  Horn  on  the  trail 
of  the  — th  in  the  few  weeks  that  elapsed  since  that 
famous  corps  had  marched  away. 

Everybody  wanted  Blake  to  dine  that  evening,  so 
that  the  household  which  secured  him  could  have 
"  first  chop"  of  all  the  news  from  the  front,  and  the 
undivided  bliss  of  retailing  it  on  the  morrow.  But 
though  in  the  blithest,  wildest  spirits,  Blake  swore 
he  couldn't  dine  with  anybody.  He  had  all  his  pack 
ing  to  do,  and  would  spend  the  night  at  the  hotel  in 
town. 

"  You  needn't  ask  why  I"  asseverated  Mrs.  Wilkins, 
when  the  ladies  were  expressing  their  opinion,  "  sure 


296  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

it's  to  spend  the  evening  with  her  friend  Mrs.  Morris. 
Faith,  those  weeds  of  hers  will  be  sprouting  wedding- 
blossoras  soon  enough,  though  I  misdoubt  me  s.he'11  be 
fooling  Blake  again.7' 

There  were  not  a  few  among  the  ladies  who  sorely 
resented  it  in  Blake  that  he  should  pass  them  by  when 
a  few  words  about  the  dear  ones  in  the  field  would 
have  been  so  much  to  them.  He  did  make  a  hur 
ried  call  at  every  house  still  occupied  by  the  families 
of  his  brother  officers,  and  delivered  notes  or  messages 
intrusted  to  his  care,  but  this  was  not  what  was  needed 
in  all  cases.  Women  of  Mrs.  Turner's  stamp  especially 
wanted  to  get  him  all  to  themselves  and  cross-examine 
and  pry.  "  Was  it  so  that  Mr.  Crane  was  drinking 
hard  again  ?  "Was  it  true  that  there  was  a  game  of 
poker  going  on  all  the  time  ?  Was  the  colonel  as  ex 
acting  and  horrid  as  he  was  at  the  post  ?"  She  was 
"  down  on  the  colonel"  now  and  had  been  ever  since 
his  attentions  to  Mrs.  Granger  and  his  compliments  to 
that  lady  after  the  theatricals.  "Did  Captain  Ray 
mond  ever  get  letters  from  Mrs.  Raymond,  now  that  she 
was  at  the  Point  ?"  (How  Mrs.  Turner  envied  her !) 
"  Who  was  Mr.  Dana  corresponding  with  ?  Wasn't 
there  something  behind  Mr.  Carroll's  arrest  besides  a 
mere  charge  of  staying  back  at  Fetterman  without 
leave  ?  He  was  so  attentive  to  Mrs.  Perkins  once,  you 
know,  and  wasn't  she  there  when  the  regiment  went 
through?"  But  all  this  Blake  dodged,  as  he  did  all 
inquiry  into  his  own  personal  plans  and  affairs,  by  the 
laughing,  ranting  jollity  of  his  replies :  He  get  mar 
ried  ?  Heavens,  yes !  When  he  contemplated  Ray's 
happiness  it  made  him  long  to  rest  his  future  in  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  297 

hands  of  some  lovely  woman  who  would  pay  all  his 
bills,  adorn  his  fireside,  furnish  his  quarters,  and  other 
wise  show  her  solid  appreciation  of  his  worth.  He 
would  throw  himself  at  the  feet. of  any  woman  whom 
he  even  faintly  suspected  of  any  such  sentiments.  He 
made  his  escape  from  the  garrison,  laughing,  joyous, 
brimming  over  with  fun  and  high  spirits, — up  to  the 
last  moment  they  saw  him,  at  least, — and  nobody  really 
knew  any  more  about  his  affairs  than  they  did  be 
fore. 

And  yet  many  of  them  remembered  the  sudden 
frown  that  fell  upon  his  face,  the  suppressed  anger  in 
his  tone,  when  the  young  infantryman  who  was  officer 
of  the  day  came  to  him  just  after  retreat,  saying, — 

"  Oh,  Blake,  that  prisoner,  Jamieson,  who  is  awaiting 
sentence  here,  begs  permission  to  speak  with  you  a 
moment  before  you  go/' 

"  I  decline  to  see  or  speak  with  him,  Graham.  That 
man  is  an  incarnate  blackguard." 

"  Well,  he  seemed  very  urgent,"  said  the  junior  offi 
cer,  slowly,  as  though  excusing  himself.  "  He  said 
there  was  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  you,  and,  as 
we  all  know  he  was  connected  with  the  gang  that 
robbed  the  stables  and  magazine,  I  thought  perhaps  he 
could  tell  something  about  the  robbery  of  your  own 
quarters." 

"  There  was  nothing  taken  worth  speaking  of, — es 
pecially  speaking  to  such  a  cad  as  that, — some  old 
sleeve-buttons  and  a  pin  or  two,"  was  Blake's  reply. 

"  But,"  said  Mrs.  Turner,  "  we  heard  there  were  cer 
tain  letters  stolen  from  a  secret  drawer." 

"  Bless  your  heart,  fair  lady  !  so  did  I.    I've  heard  all 


298  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

sorts  of  things ;  but  I  find  it  hard  to  believe  them,  be 
cause  there  weren't  any  letters  in  there." 

"  Olv  well,  of  course,  I  didn't  know,  but  that  was 
what  everybody  said/7  was  Mrs.  Turner's  reply. 

"  What  everybody  says  is  generally  what  nobody 
proves,  Mrs.  Turner/7  answered  Blake,  with  unusual 
gravity,  as  he  raised  his  hat  and  turned  away. 

There  was  silence  in  the  party  a  moment. 

"  I  do  wish  there  were  a  law  preventing  officers  from 
ever  appearing  in  citizens'  dress/7  said  Mrs.  Waldron, 
presently,  as  she  looked  after  Blake,  now  sauntering 
up  the  row  by  Mrs.  Heath's  side.  "  They  never  look 
natural  out  of  uniform." 

"  It  improves  Mr.  Blake,  anyhow,"  answered  Mrs. 
Turner,  whose  cheeks  were  red  and  whose  eyes  were 
wrathful.  "  If  he  could  wear  a  longer  skirt  to  his 
overcoat  it  would  hide  still  more  of  his  defects.  I 
wish  he  never  wore  a  uniform.  It  would  be  a  relief 
to  have  him  go — and  marry  her — and  quit  the  service." 

Mrs.  Waldron  turned  suddenly  and  looked  in  sur 
prise  at  the  flushed  features  of  her  neighbor  who  had 
spoken  with  such  asperity.  Her  lips  moved  as  though 
she  would  reply;  but  she  curbed  the  impulse  and  held 
her  peace. 

It  was  dark  by  the  time  Mr.  Blake  stepped  into  the 
ambulance  that  was  to  take  him  to  town,  and  nobody 
happened  to  be  there  when  he  started.  Possibly  this 
was  in  accordance  with  his  own  wish,  for  the  vehicle 
had  been  ordered  to  "  report,"  as  the  army  expression 
goes,  at  his  quarters  at  eight  o'clock,  and  there  it  had 
been  waiting  nearly  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  No 
one  knew  just  what  had  become  of  the  lieutenant.  He 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  299 

had  been  seen  having  quite  a  long  talk  with  Major 
Waldron  at  the  major's  gate.  Thence  he  had  gone  to 
the  hospital  to  see  one  or  two  men  of  the  regiment  who 
were  convalescing  from  illness  or  wounds  ;  had  walked 
to  the  doctor's  quarters  with  Pease  himself,  and  thence 
down  to  the  quartermaster's  stables,  where  the  sergeant 
said  he  came  to  give  some  directions  about  the  care  of 
his  horse  in  his  absence.  Then  he  went  up  the  hill 
towards  the  guard-house. 

But  it  was  the  sergeant  of  the  guard  who  had  a  story 
worth  telling  the  next  morning  after  Blake  was  gone, 
and  a  very  "  sizable"  yarn  it  was.  Just  after  dark,  he 
said,  the  lieutenant  came  to  the  tower  and  wished  to  see 
the  prisoner,  Jamieson,  and  Jamieson  was  brought  out 
from  the  cell-room  and  taken  inside  the  tower,  the  ser 
geant  and  the  sentry  retiring.  In  less  than  three  min 
utes  the  lieutenant's  voice  was  heard  in  accents  that 
betrayed  wrath  and  indignation.  Every  word  was  dis 
tinctly  audible :  "  By  God,  sir !"  he  almost  shouted, 
"  if  you  were  not  an  enlisted  man  and  a  prisoner  under 
guard,  I  would  hammer  you  into  pulp  here  and  now." 
Then  the  door  was  flung  violently  open. 

"  Sergeant,  take  that  scoundrel  back  to  the  prison- 
room,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  came  forth,  and  without 
another  word  to  anybody  hastened  away  across  the 
parade. 

And  that  story,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  he  had 
positively  declined  to  see  the  man  at  all  when  Mr. 
Graham  first  asked  it,  gave  people  something  to  think 
about  for  several  days  after  his  departure.  It  was  the 
last  heard  of  Blake  at  Russell  for  a  whole  fortnight. 
Then  the  absorbing  details  of  the  lovely  Kay-Sanford 


300  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

wedding  began  coming  in,  the  newspapers  first,  and 
the  long,  enthusiastic  letters  from  Mrs.  Stannard  after 
wards  ;  and  now  the  ladies,  at  least,  had  something  far 
more  engrossing  to  occupy  their  thoughts  than  the 
reports  of  Blake's  violent  language  to  the  English 
prisoner.  Presently,  too,  came  orders  for  Jamieson's 
dishonorable  discharge  and  transfer  to  a  military  prison 
for  punishment ;  and,  with  Grimsby  dead  and  buried 
and  Jamieson  lodged  behind  the  bars,  dressed  in  a  con 
vict's  suit,  and  the  ex-stable  orderly  of  Freeman's 
troop  suffering  a  similar  fate,  there  was  left  no  military 
member  of  the  gang  of  robbers  or  conspirators  of  whom 
the  garrison  had  either  knowledge  or  suspicion  except 
the  quondam  quartermaster's  clerk  and  subsequent 
deserter,  Burns,  alias  Howell,  whom  no  man  could  lay 
a  finger  upon,  for,  despite  the  best  efforts  of  the  detec 
tives,  not  a  trace  of  him  could  be  found. 

Yet  he  was  a  man  concerning  whom  Mrs.  Granger's 
lawyer,  who  came  out  from  the  East  this  very  month 
of  June,  made  the  most  intricate  and  particular  in 
quiries. 

"  Mr.  Blake  was  the  life  of  the  wedding-party," 
wrote  Mrs.  Stannard.  "  I  never  saw  him  looking  so 
well,  never  knew  him  to  be  more  amusing.  In  his 
speech  at  the  wedding-supper  he  fairly  outdid  himself, 
and  everybody  was  in  shouts  of  laughter  before  he  fin 
ished.  So  many  people  hoped  he  would  spend  two  or 
three  days  there,  at  least,  and  Major  Stannard  told  me 
the  men  at  the  club  were  delighted  with  him  and  had 
planned  a  little  dinner  to  be  given  in  his  honor  the  day 
after  the  wedding,  but  he  left  on  an  early-morning 
train,  hardly  saying  good-by  to  any  one,  and  he  did  not 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  301 

tell  us  where  he  would  spend  his  leave.  I  do  hope  he 
isn't  going  to — but  I  believe  I'll  not  write  anything 
on  that  point." 

Yet  everybody  at  Russell  seemed  to  know  what  Mrs. 
Stannard  meant,  and  hoped  so,  too.  And  now,  with 
most  of  the  garrison  up  on  the  distant  slopes  of  the  Big 
Horn,  and  the  Rays  on  their  wedding-tour,  and  Mrs. 
Truscott  and  Baby  Jack  visiting  in  the  East,  and  the 
Stannards  spending  the  summer  among  the  mountains 
near  the  old  home,  and  Mrs.  Atherton  and  Mrs.  Free 
man,  with  the  latter's  children,  at  the  sea-shore,  and  no 
Mrs.  Granger  at  the  depot  to  gossip  about,  and  a  new  offi 
cer  in  charge  there,  and  a  new  manager  up  at  Bryan's 
ranch,  there  fell  a  cloud  over  social  life  at  the  post,  and 
poor  Mrs.  Turner  yawned  and  dozed  and  dawdled 
through  day  after  day,  lamenting  that  there  was  ever  a 
need  for  field  service  of  any  kind.  It  took  all  the 
bachelors  and  beaux  and  dancing  men  away,  as  she  had 
so  often  complained  before.  It  did  not  seem  to  matter 
so  much  about  the  husbands. 

And,  then  in  the  midst  of  all  this  humdrum,  placid, 
uneventful  life,  there  came  sudden  orders  that  took  from 
them  in  the  shape  of  gallants  and  defenders  even  that 
which  they  had.  First,  the  trains  on  the  Union  Pa 
cific  were  crowded  with  soldiers  for  a  day  or  two,  has 
tening  eastward  to  protect  the  great  cities  against  the 
mob  violence  that  followed  close  upon  the  greatest 
railway  strikes  the  country  had  ever  known.  And 
then,  in  less  than  a  month,  back  they  came,  whirling 
westward  with  orders,  for  the  cavalry  at  least,  to  march 
to  the  heart  of  the  continent  and  at  all  hazards  to  head 
off  and  capture  a  strong  band  of  desperate  warriors 


302  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

who,  magnificently  led,  were  striving  to  cut  their  way 
through  a  circle  of  foemen,  many  of  whom  would  far 
rather  have  fought  the  men  who  wrought  the  original 
wrong.  From  small  beginnings  the  war  assumed  pro 
portions  that  became  startling.  The  Indians  marched 
and  fought  as  never  Indians  marched  or  fought  before, 
and  with  troops  confronting  them  on  every  side,  though 
only  in  skeleton  battalions,  they  had  burst  through  the 
cordon,  crossed  the  great  range,  and  were  now  heading 
for  the  settlements  or  the  British  line,  no  one  could  tell 
which,  and  every  available  man  was  spurred  to  the  dis 
tant  scene.  Two  weeks  of  rapid  marching  it  would 
take  to  concentrate  the  — th,  far  up  near  the  head 
waters  of  the  Elk,  and,  just  as  the  year  before,  the  offi 
cers  on  leave  came  hurrying  from  their  holiday, — 
Stannard  from  the  mountains,  Ray  from  the  arms  of 
his  bride,  Tommy  Hollis  from — no  one  knew  just 
where,  but  he  brought  no  crutches  with  him,  and  then 
the  question  that  was  asked  by  man  after  man,  woman 
after  woman,  at  the  fort  was, "  Where  on  earth  is  Blake  ?" 
Mrs.  Morris,  who  drove  out  from  town  quite  frequently 
to  hear  the  band  and  heed  the  news,  and  who  was 
known  to  be  in  correspondence  with  Mrs.  Granger,  now 
said  to  be  slowly  regaining  composure  and  health  at  a 
quiet  resort  among  the  Berkshire  Hills,  was  questioned 
as  to  whether  she  had  heard  anything  of  that  gentle 
man.  "  No  !  Mrs.  Granger  had  not  mentioned  him  at 
all."  And  Mrs.  Morris's  eyes  faltered  no  more  than 
did  her  tongue. 

"  Blake  got  a  month's  extension  to  his  leave/'  said 
the  post-adjutant  in  reply  to  frequent  questioning.  "  It 
expires  now  on  the  15th,  so  he's  got  to  be  here  or  with 


CAPTAIN   BLAKE.  303 

the  regiment  in  a  week.  Major  Stannard  and  Ray 
caught  up  with  the  column  before  it  reached  the  Sweet- 
water; — we  got  telegrams  yesterday.  Hollis  followed 
from  Green  River  on  the  next  buckboard,  but  Blake 
hasn't  been  heard  of." 

"Well,  Mr.  Blake's  troop  is  with  the  Big  Horn 
battalion.  He  wouldn't  go  that  way  at  all,  would  he  ?" 
asked  Mrs.  Wilkins,  kindly. 

"  Yes,  because  everybody  knows  they  will  be  ordered 
around  to  join  the  regiment  at  Clark's  Fork  or  Cedar 
Mountain,  somewhere  thereabouts,  and  he  could  never 
catch  them  by  following  their  trail.  His  best  way  is 
to  join  the  Wind  River  column.  He  could  reach 
them  at  old  Camp  Brown  this  week,  and  Billings  tele 
graphed  him,  as  he  did  to  the  others,  the  moment  orders 
came  for  the  campaign." 

"  Where  was  he  then  ?" 

"  His  address  was  care  of  the  Athenaeum  Club.  I 
suppose  Billings  told  him  about  what  date  they  would 
get  away  from  the  Wind  River  Valley,  and  he  is  timing 
his  move  accordingly.  Perhaps,  too,  it  was  not  for 
warded  promptly.  Blake  isn't  a  fellow  to  hang  back 
when  there's  service  ahead.  I  wish  to  heaven  we  were 
mounted,  instead  of  loafing  here,  guarding  a  lot  of  old 
c — commissary  stores  and  things." 

"  Mr.  Foster !  /heard  you  !  You  corrected  yourself 
too  late.  You  know  perfectly  well  you  were  going  to 
say  a  lot  of  old  cats  ;  and  it's  us  you  were  thinking  of," 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Wilkins,  in  counterfeit  dudgeon. 

"  I  wasn't,"  protested  Foster,  reddening,  nevertheless, 
to  the  roots  of  his  hair;  "  indeed,  I  wasn't." 

"  Then  you   meant  us  when  you  said  a  lot  of  old 


304  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

things,  you  know  you  did,  Mr.  Foster,"  chimed  in  Mrs. 
Turner.  "  Very  well,  Mr.  Foster,  I  shall  know  how 
much  to  respect  your  sincerity  in  the  future.  If  this 
is  a  specimen  of  infantry  gallantry,  Fm  glad  we  have 
so  little  of  it."  And  poor  Foster,  unable  to  make  him 
self  heard,  much  less  understood,  in  the  face  of  such 
upbraiding,  beat  a  quick  retreat  to  his  own  quarters. 

Yet  he  was  glad  to  escape.  He  liked  Blake  well, 
and  he  did  not  like  it  that  he  had  failed  to  appear.  He 
had  spoken  to  nobody  but  Major  Waldron  of  a  fact 
they  both  knew, — that  the  command  was  to  begin  its 
northward  march  from  old  Camp  Brown  in  forty-eight 
hours,  and  that  Blake  could  not  now  reach  it  before  the 
start,  though  by  hard  riding  he  might  still  overtake  it, 
following  the  trail  over  the  frowning  range  of  the  Owl 
Creek  mountains. 

Two  days  more  passed  and  still  no  Blake ;  on  the 
contrary,  there  came  anxious  telegrams  from  Freeman 
and  Billings  just  as  they  were  leaving  the  outermost 
post :  "  Have  you  no  news  of  Blake  ?  Try  to  ascertain 
what  is  wrong."  Waldron  telegraphed  to  the  Athe 
naeum,  and  the  reply  stated  that  Mr.  Blake  had  not 
been  there  for  a  month.  All  his  mail  had  been  sent 
to  Montclair,  Maryland,  between  the  5th  and  20th  of 
August,  and  since  then  letters  were  forwarded  and  de 
spatches  repeated,  in  compliance  with  his  telegraphic 
orders,  to  Denver,  Colorado. 

"To  Denver  !"  exclaimed  Waldron,  in  genuine  dis 
may.  "Then  he  must  have  been  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  us  when  the  orders  came  for  the  regiment  to 
take  the  field.  That  was  ten  days  ago,  and  he  hasn't 
turned  up  yet.  Foster,  either  Blake  is  there  so  ill  that 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  305 

he  does  not  know  that  this  campaign  is  on  and  his  troop 

in  the  thick  of  it,  or  else Oh,  good  afternoon,  Mrs. 

Morris,"  said  he,  with  a  sweeping  bow,  as  that  buxom 
lady,  all  smiles  and  cordiality,  drove  by  with  some  friends 
from  town  in  the  stylish  landau  that  had  once  been  Mrs. 
Granger's.  "  She  is  beckoning,  Foster ;  what  does  she 
want  ?" 

"  The  carriage  is  stopping  in  front  of  your  quarters, 
sir ;  half  a  dozen  ladies  are  there  on  the  piazza." 

"  Well,  we'll  walk  over  there,  then — but  no  word  of 
this  there.  As  I  was  saying,  I'm  troubled  about 
Blake.  Billings  wired  twice  and  Freeman  once,  and 
those  despatches  must  have  gone  right  on  to  Denver 
after  him.  He  is  not  the  fnan  to  shirk  what  promises 
to  be  a  sharp  campaign,  especially  in  face  of  the  news 
of  that  ugly  fighting  west  of  the  range,  and  then, 
too,  since  he  lost  so  much  of  last  year's  campaign.  It 
would  harm  him  infinitely  if  he  failed  to  reach  the 
— th  in  time.  Do  you  know  any  one  in  Denver  of 
whom  we  can  make  inquiries  ?" 

"  Nobody  better  than  some  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
detectives.  They  would  find  him  in  no  time  if  he 
were  there ;  and  then  if  he  is  ill,  why,  I  could  run 
right  down  to  him.  But  I  simply  can't  believe,  major, 
that  he's  there,  with  this  campaign  going  on."  And 
here  they  reached  the  landau,  about  which  a  number  of 
garrison  ladies  were  already  joyfully  gathering.  It 
was  Mrs.  Morris  who  was  speaking : 

u  IVe  only  dropped   in   for  a  moment ;  I  have  to 

hurry  right  back  to  town.     What  message  shall  I  take 

for  you  to  Mrs.  Granger  ?     You  know  she  came  out  to 

Denver  some  ten  days  ago  to  visit  Judge  Lawrence. 

u  26* 


306  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Some  tangled  matters  about  the  major's  estate  she  has 
to  settle.  I'm  going  down  there  to-morrow.  You  see 
I'm  so  anxious  to  join  her  again,  poor  dear,  she's  had 
such  a  sad,  sad  summer." 

Mechanically  the  two  officers  raised  their  forage-caps 
as  the  landau  bowled  away,  but  neither  spoke.  It  was 
Mrs.  Turner  who  first  gave  utterance  to  the  thought 
that  had  taken  instant  root  in  every  mind. 

"  Mrs.  Granger  in  Denver !  Then  all  this  time  Mr. 
Blake  was  nearer  at  hand  than  we  supposed." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  3Q7 


CHAPTEE  XXL 

JUNE  was  lovelier  still  in  the  Berkshire  hills.  It 
was  not  yet  time  for  the  gathering  of  the  devotees  of 
fashion  at  Lenox,  but  at  one  of  the  quietest  and  most 
secluded  little  nooks  close  at  hand  there  was  ensconced  a 
lovely  widow,  pathetic,  pallid,  and  languorous ;  one 
whose  exquisite  face  told  the  story  of  recent  bereave 
ment  ;  one  who  sought  no  acquaintances,  and  whose 
only  companion  for  a  time  was  an  elderly  dame  referred 
to  more  frequently  by  the  villagers  as  "  the  widow's 
aunt'7  than  by  her  registered  name  of  Mrs.  Morgan. 
Together  these  two  sad- faced  ladies  spent  hours  in  the 
open  air  and  sunshine,  clambering  among  the  rocky 
heights,  reading  or  sketching  in  shady  corners,  writing 
and  receiving  scores  of  letters,  as  the  post-mistress  was 
not  slow  to  admit.  "  Her  husband  was  a  major  in  the 
army  and  was  killed  in  the  Indian  war,"  explained 
that  village  authority,  a  statement  which  heightened 
the  halo  of  romance  that  seemed  from  the  outset  to 
crown  one  so  beautiful  and  so  early  widowed.  There 
were  some  fashionables  at  a  neighboring  hotel,  people 
who  were  determined  to  be  in  the  hills  during  the  bliss 
ful  weeks  in  which  society  swarmed  thither,  and  who, 
being  unable  to  afford  the  expensive  preliminary  tour 
of  the  seaside  resorts,  had  secured  their  rooms  for  the 
season  at  reduced  rates,  and  were  longing  for  some  dis- 


308  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

traction  or  entertainment  during  the  weary  days  that 
must  elapse  before  the  coming  of  the  leaders  and  the 
tide.  These  had  called  upon  the  lovely  Mrs.  Granger, 
putting  on  long  faces  as  they  would  black  gloves  for 
deep  mourning,  and  couching  their  expressions  of  in 
terest  and  sympathy  in  that  soft,  soothing  drawl  which 
the  sex  holds  in  reserve  for  such  occasions.  Some  failed 
to  see  the  lady,  but  those  who  were  more  fortunate  de 
clared  her  charming,  yet  so  inconsolable  that  she  had 
begged  them  in  deep  emotion  not  to  think  her  indiffer 
ent  to  their  sympathy  and  kindness,  but  her  bereave 
ment  was  so  recent,  so  sudden.  "  Stricken  down  in  the 
flower  of  his  years."  She  craved  their  forgiveness  if 
she  failed  just  now  to  return  visits,  and  then  tears, 
against  which  she  had  been  struggling,  overcame  her 
utterly.  People  declared  her  so  grateful,  so  charmingly 
apologetic,  so  sweet,  so  sad,  so  pathetic  in  her  resigna 
tion,  so  devoted  to  her  husband's  memory,  so  very,  very 
interesting.  And  the  interest  was  redoubled,  if  the 
other  attributes  were  not,  when  there  arrived  a  tall 
young  gentleman  on  crutches,  and  it  was  presently 
rumored  that  he  was  an  officer  in  the  deceased  major's 
own  regiment,  who  had  gallantly  risked  his  life  to  save 
that  of  his  commander  and  was  desperately  wounded 
in  the  attempt.  Then  other  versions  began  to  be  cir 
culated.  Then  all  the  neighboring  hill-sides  seemed 
whispering  the  story  of  the  devotion  of  the  crippled 
soldier  to  the  lovely  relict  of  his  commander.  Ten 
days  did  that  lovelorn  youth  hover  at  her  side,  but  the 
evenings  found  him  seeking,  perforce,  other  comfort  at 
the  hotel.  A  sociable,  a  gregarious  body  was  Tom, 
and  when  the  lady  of  his  heart  coyly  and  chastely  de- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  309 

clared  that  she  could  not  see  him  after  the  dews  of 
night  began  to  fall,  he  was  ready  to  be  kindly  inter 
ested  in  everybody  as  of  old,  and  as  a  consequence  he 
was  soon  pumped  dry  of  all  the  truth  in  the  matter, 
and  the  Rockminster  people  and  the  villagers  were  made 
ready  for  other  sensations  when  it  leaked  out  that  the 
major  had  been  mysteriously  murdered,  not  killed  in 
headlong  charge  upon  the  foe.  Yes,  only  in  the  day 
time  was  he  welcomed  at  Ferncliff,  and  then  their  in 
terviews  were  generally  under  the  supervision  of  the 
elderly  Mrs.  Morgan,  who,  for  propriety's  sake,  seemed 
ever  present ;  and  then  one  evening  the  lieutenant  had 
come  in  with  a  rueful  face,  and  called  for  his  bill,  which 
included  a  breakfast  on  the  morrow  of  which  he  did 
not  partake,  and  with  the  early  train  he  vanished  from 
view,  and  in  twenty- four  hours  there  arrived  another 
whose  appearance  was  attended  by  a  circumstance  the 
post-mistress  did  not  fail  to  note, — there  came  no  more 
letters  from  Ferucliff  addressed  to  Lieutenant  Gerald 
Blake,  — th  U.  S.  Cavalry,  in  the  field,  via  Fort 
Fetterman,  Wyoming,  then  at  Fort  Russell,  Wyoming, 
then  at  the  Athenaeum  Club,  New  York ;  and  there 
came  no  more  daily  letters  addressed  in  a  bold,  dashing 
hand  to  Mrs.  S.  L.  Granger,  Ferncliif,  Berksville, 
Massachusetts.  Other  letters  in  abundance  came  and 
went,  but  the  post-mistress  well  knew  that  this  new 
comer  was  the  most  assiduous  of  all  the  fair  widow's 
correspondents,  and,  if  frequency  of  reply  could  prove 
anything,  the  most  favored.  By  an  odd  coincidence  the 
clerk  at  the  Rockminster  gave  Lieutenant  Blake  the 
very  room  recently  occupied  by  his  regimental  comrade, 
the  lively  and  lamented  Hollis ;  but  he  did  not  men- 


310  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tion  the  fact  then  or  thereafter,  for  the  new  arrival  was 
as  reserved  and  distant  as  Hollis  had  been  jovial  and 
approachable.  A  man  among  the  guests  felt  sure  he 
had  met  Mr.  Blake  in  the  Maryland  mountains  long 
years  before,  and  ventured  to  introduce  himself  the  night 
that  succeeded  the  long-legged  trooper's  arrival.  But 
Mr.  Blake,  though  courteous,  did  not  overflow  with 
cordiality,  and  plainly  showed  a  desire  to  be  rid  of  the 
gentleman's  presence.  If  the  lovely  widow  had  denied 
herself  to  one  suitor  in  the  sweet  moonlit  evenings  of 
early  June,  she  had  no  such  scruples  now  when  the 
chaste  goddess  of  the  skies  was  hiding  her  silvery  face 
until  after  the  midnight  hour.  The  winning  man 
seemed  to  have  come  in  with  the  wane  of  the  moon ; 
and  the  Rockminster  guests  and  garrison  were  to  a  man 
and  woman  condemnatory  of  her  conduct  as  well  as  of 
her  choice.  How  shallow  a  mockery  was  her  plaintive 
grief!  How  strange  that  she  should  be  receiving  such 
attention  so  soon  after  her  husband's  most  untimely 
taking  off!  Was  it  indeed  untimely?  Was  it  not 
possible  that  she  had  been  receiving  those  same  at 
tentions  before,  and  so  heightened,  if  not  hastened,  the 
tragedy  ?  Blake  never  came  back  to  the  hotel  before 
eleven  at  night,  and  then  simply  took  his  key  and  went 
to  bed.  He  had  registered  during  the  last  week  in 
June,  and  as  more  guests  arrived  and  began  to  fill  up 
the  house  in  July,  there  came  among  them  some  army 
people  who  caught  sight  of  him  at  the  breakfast-table 
the  next  morning ;  but  he  passed  out  without  notice  of 
them.  Major  Dennis,  of  the  artillery,  with  his  wife 
and  daughters,  were  of  the  party,  and  the  major  in 
quired  at  the  office. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  31 1 

"  Yes,  sir,  that's  Mr.  Blake,"  was  the  clerk's  reply. 
So  the  major  sent  his  card ;  so  did  Lieutenant  Ay  ling, 
who  was  devoting  himself  to  one  of  the  daughters ;  and 
when  these  cards  were  handed  Blake  he  looked  any 
thing  but  overjoyed.  He  came  forth  from  his  room 
arrayed,  evidently,  for  a  tramp  among  the  hills, 
with  a  pair  of  field-glasses  slung  over  his  shoulder. 
He  greeted  them  with  much  apparent  cordiality ;  was 
marched  in  and  presented  to  the  ladies,  whom  he  had 
known  as  youthful  matron  and  little  girls  in  short 
dresses  ten  years  before  at  Old  Point  Comfort ;  chatted 
nervously  a  few  moments ;  then  excused  himself — "An 
engagement  with  friends,  a  walking  party, — see  you  all 
this  evening/7  and  so  hurried  away. 

But  they  saw  him  before  evening,  and  the  walking 
party  consisted  apparently  of  but  one  couple.  The 
major's  little  contingent  started  out  for  a  drive  to  Cas 
tle  Rock,  alighted  from  their  wagon  at  the  foot  of  the 
ledge,  and,  clambering  up  the  narrow  and  tortuous 
pathway,  came  suddenly  upon  Blake  and  a  lovely 
woman  in  deep  mourning  seated  on  a  rustic  bench 
in  a  bower  of  leaves.  They  all  seemed  to  blush  at 
the  rencontre,  though  no  one  could  explain  why, 
and  the  major  fell  into  a  brown  study,  from  which  he 
emerged  only  half  an  hour  later  with  the  sudden 
exclamation  : 

"  I  have  it,  by  Jupiter  !  I  knew  I'd  seen  her  face 
before.  That  was  Madeleine  Torrance,  dear,  old  Cap 
tain  Torrance's  daughter.  You  remember  them  at  tho 
Hygeia.  Who  was  it  she  married  ?  Some  fellow  at 
Washington  in  the  staff." 

"  She  married  Major  Granger,"  answered  his  wife, 


312  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"and  he  was  killed  or  something  out  West  last 
winter." 

That  night  there  was  a  singular  occurrence.  This 
was  the  3d  of  July,  and  quite  a  number  of  people 
came  up  to  spend  the  Fourth.  The  late  train  was 
crowded,  so  were  the  busses  that  came  up  from  the  sta 
tion  ;  but  among  the  arrivals  was  Lieutenant  Hollis, 
his  crutches  discarded,  but  limping  along  with  a  heavy 
stick.  He  greeted  the  clerk  with  the  cordiality  of  an 
old  friend : 

"  Say,  old  man,  put  me  back  in  the  same  room  I  had 
before,  will  you?" 

"  Sorry,  Mr.  Hollis,  but  that's  taken.  It's  occupied 
by  a  friend  of  yours,  though ; — belongs  to  your  regi 
ment,  I  believe, — Lieutenant  Blake." 

"  Lieutenant  Blake  !"  exclaimed  Hollis,  turning  red, 
then  white,  then  all  sorts  of  colors.  "Lieutenant 
Blake!"  he  repeated.  "Are  you — sure?"  Arid  the 
face  that  met  the  surprised  gaze  of  the  clerk  was  filled 
with  actual  consternation  and  perplexity. 

"Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Hollis.  He's  been  here, — he 
came  here  the  day  after  you  left." 

For  a  moment  Hollis  stood  there  as  though  power 
less  to  move,  his  face  getting  grayer  and  grayer,  his 
eyes  vacant,  his  jaw  relaxed.  Then,  as  though  sud 
denly  aware  that  he  was  making  an  exhibition  of  him 
self,  he  whirled  quickly  away,  and,  still  half-dazed, 
wandered  out  upon  the  broad  piazza  and  sought  the 
darkest  corner.  In  half  an  hour,  as  he  did  not  come 
in,  a  bell-boy  approached  him. 

"  Mr.  Hollis,  sir,  supper's  most  over.  The  clerk 
says,  don't  you  want  some  ?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  313 

"  I  believe  not.  Has-s — Mr.  Blake  got  back  ?  Has 
he  been  to  supper  ?" 

"  No-o,  sir ;  he  ain't  come  ;  he  don't  come  in  to  sup 
per  much." 

Hollis  slowly  arose  and  hobbled  back  into  the  office. 
People  who  had  known  him  came  forward  to  greet  him 
and  were  concerned  to  see  the  pallor  of  his  face.  To 
all  inquiries  he  hurriedly  answered  he  was  well  enough, 
only  tired  ;  a  little  sore  from  the  jolting. 

"  That's  a  double  room  of  Blake's,"  he  said.  "  Can 
I  not  leave  my  things  in  there  and  get  a  wash  before  he 
comes  in  ?" 

"  Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Hollis.  I'll  send  a  boy  with 
you.  Have  your  trunk  sent  in  there,  too  ?" 

"  I  didn't  bring  any ;  only  came  up  for  the  Fourth, 
you  know.  Just  send  my  bag  in  there." 

Hollis  would  have  followed  the  boy,  but  other  sym 
pathizing  inquirers  stopped  him  and  he  had  to  speak  to 
ladies  in  the  hall.  The  boy  came  back  and  handed  him 
the  key.  It  was  ten  minutes  before  he  could  break 
away,  and  then  he  hobbled  down  the  familiar  corridor, 
turned  sharp  to  the  right  at  the  little  passage  leading 
to  the  old  room,  and  came  face  to  face  with  a  burly 
man  in  a  full  beard.  Only  one  room  opened  off  the 
short  passage — Number  27.  The  stranger  saw  the  in 
quiry  in  the  lieutenant's  eyes. 

"  Beg  pardon,"  he  spoke,  drawling  his  words  some 
what  ;  "  I  was  looking  for  Number  23." 

"  You've  passed  it,  out  there  in  the  corridor,"  said 
Hollis.  And  the  stranger  touched  his  hat  and  stepped 
away. 

Unlocking  the  door,  Hollis  unhesitatingly  entered, 
o  27 


314  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and,  striking  a  match,  lighted  the  lamp  on  the  dressing- 
table.  Blake's  trunk,  closed  and  apparently  locked,  stood 
beside  it.  Some  books,  papers,  neckwear,  some  studs  and 
collar-buttons,  a  few  cigars,  etc.,  littered  the  table; 
other  masculine  gear  was  on  the  bureau.  Two  or  three 
suits  of  summer  clothing  hung  in  the  open  wardrobe ; 
but  the  drawers  of  the  bureau  were  closed.  Stepping 
quickly  forward,  he  opened  the  uppermost.  Collars, 
cuffs,  handkerchiefs,  neckties,  and  a  lot  of  letters  met 
his  eye,  and  one  or  two  envelopes,  black-bordered,  ad 
dressed  in  a  hand  he  well  knew.  His  frank,  pale  face 
darkened  at  sight  of  them.  Carefully,  scrupulously 
he  pushed  them  aside  until  he  couid  raise  the  corner 
and  peer  under  the  newspaper  which,  country-hotel- 
fashion,  was  spread  over  the  wooden  bottom  of  the 
drawer.  Higher  he  lifted  and  farther  he  looked  until 
at  last  his  search  was  rewarded.  There  lay  a  couple 
of  sheets  of  letter  paper  covered  thickly  with  writing. 
These  he  quickly  seized  and  examined.  A  muttered 
exclamation,  as  of  relief,  fell  from  his  lips.  He  started 
to  tear  them  to  fragments,  but  suddenly  bethought  him 
that  he  could  not  leave  those  fragments  there.  Then, 
carefully  he  replaced  everything  in  the  drawer  as  he 
had  found  it,  looking  lingeringly  at  the  envelopes  ad 
dressed  in  that  well-known  hand.  Then  he  sat  him 
down  and  pondered  a  while,  mopping  his  moist  fore 
head,  then  burying  his  face  in  his  hands.  At  last  he 
rose  to  his  feet,  carefully  closed  the  drawer  and,  without 
touching  or  disturbing  another  item  of  Blake's  property, 
extinguished  the  light,  took  his  bag  and  cane,  locked  the 
door  behind  him,  and  limped  painfully  back  to  the  office. 
"  Is  there  any  down-train  to-night  ?"  he  inquired. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  315 

"  Nine-fifty,  sir ;  but  you've  had  no  supper.  You're 
not  going  so  soon,  lieutenant  ?" 

"  Yes ;  I  thought  to  find  some  friends  here,  but  I 
hear  that  they  are  over  at  Mahopac.  Just  send  my  grip 
to  the  station,  will  you  ? — and  I'll  walk." 

Under  the  beautiful  old  trees  the  hard-beaten  path 
way  wound.  How  many  a  time,  with  halting  gait,  yet 
blithely-beating  heart,  he  had  climbed  the  long  ascent 
that  led  to  the  bowered  cottage  up  among  the  hills  be 
fore  him.  How  wild  with  hope,  with  joy  and  confi 
dence,  had  he  been  when  last  he  made  his  way  under 
those  whispering  leaves  late  that  lovely  afternoon  in 
June  !  The  air  was  heavy  with  the  perfume  of  roses ; 
the  very  birds  were  stilled  by  the  warmth  and  languor 
of  the  declining  day.  Hours  of  the  night  preceding 
that  last  visit  he  had  sat  there  in  the  little  room 
writing  page  after  page  to  her,  the  woman  he  had  so  rap 
turously  loved  ;  yet  nothing  he  could  write  seemed  fit  to 
lay  before  her.  Page  after  page  was  rewritten,  some 
copied,  some  destroyed  ;  some  which  he  thought  had 
certain  good  points  he  laid  aside  to  re-read  ;  others, 
wild  and  impassioned,  he  stowed  in  that  upper  drawer 
under  the  paper,  to  re-read  once  more  before  retiring,  to 
prompt  him  on  the  morrow  when  daring  to  put  his  for 
tune  to  the  test.  There  they  still  lay  when  he  returned, 
stunned,  desolate,  vaguely  feeling  that  he  had  been 
lured  and  tempted  only  to  be  cast  aside ;  yet  so  dis 
armed  by  her  exquisite  pathos,  her  pleading,  her  tears ; 
so  conquered  by  her  -self-accusation  that  he  had  implored 
her  not  to  think  of  him  and  his  misery  ;  not  to  blame 
herself.  It  was  all  his  fault,  all  his  blind  infatuation. 
It  was  enough  for  him  now  that  he  had  won  so  sweet  a 


316  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

friendship.  It  was  all  he  could  ask  as  yet.  It  was 
enough  to  be  assured  that  no  other  man  stood  nearer  to 
her  heart.  He  would  obey  her  in  everything.  He 
would  intrude  upon  her  grief  no  more — just  now. 

"  Oh,  my  friend,  my  friend !"  she  had  said,  while 
the  tears  dimmed  her  swimming  eyes,  "  I  ought  to  have 
known,  I  ought  to  have  felt,  that  this  must  come  ;  but 
in  my  selfish  sorrow  I  did  not  dream  of  it.  I  was  so 
blessed,  so  strengthened,  so  ennobled  by  your  trust, 
your  friendship,  that  I  grew  to  crave  it,  and  to  lean 
upon  it.  I  was  so  misjudged  at  the  fort.  I  was  so — 
so  unhappy  in  my  married  life  that  your  brave,  strong 
spirit  came  between  me  and  despair.  I  needed  such  a 
friend  among  such  foes ;  I  will  need  it  still  more  in 
the  future,  and  I  had  so  counted  on  you — you  to  stand 
between  me  when  those  women  and  those  men  at  Rus 
sell  maligned  me  as  they  have  and  as  they  will.  I 
knew  that  with  you  to  defend  my  name  they  would  be 
silenced,  one  and  all.  And  now  only  the  other  day  I 
heard  how  the  tongues  of  scandal  had  coupled  our  names 
here,  and  only  yesterday  I  realized  that  I  must  rob 
myself  of  my  sweetest  comfort  and  bid  you  go.  It  is 
for  my  good  name's  sake,  my  honor,  dear  friend,  dear 
— Tom.77  And  poor  Tommy  had  knelt  and  kissed  the 
lovely  outstretched  hand  and  limped  away  lamenting, 
yet  loyal  to  the  last. 

And  now,  returning  for  one  look  at  the  loved  face 
and  to  search  for  those  mad,  paroxysmal  pages  he  had 
penned  and  characteristically  left,  he  found  Blake  had 
come  the  day  after  his  departure;  had  taken  his  room, 
and  more  than  taken  his  place.  What  to  say  to  him, 
what  to  say  to  her,  he  had  not  the  remotest  idea. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  317 

Some  blind  force  was  driving  him  up  the  well-beaten 
pathway  that  led  to  her  summer  home,  the  dainty 
refuge  she  had  chosen.  It  lacked  but  half  an  hour  to 
train-time,  but  he  had  wellnigh  forgotten  that.  Per 
haps  all  he  hoped  for  was  one  look  at  the  vine-clad 
walls  that  sheltered  her. 

He  reached  at  last  the  wicket  gate,  stilling  as  much 
as  he  could  the  sound  of  his  halting  step  and  heavy 
cane.  The  windows  of  the  little  cottage  were  open  ; 
a  bright  light  burned  at  the  reading-table  in  the  parlor; 
there  sat  Mrs.  Morgan  absorbed  in  a  book.  No  one 
else  was  visible.  He  leaned  against  the  great  elm, 
deep  in  the  shadows  of  the  overhanging  branches. 
Where  was  she?  Where  were  they?  The  answer 
came  soon  enough.  Slow-pacing  footfalls  caught  his 
ear — the  swish  of  a  woman's  trailing  skirt  upon  the 
loose  gravel.  Almost  before  he  was  aware  of  it,  they 
were  upon  him  here  at  the  little  gate  and  about  to 
enter.  They  were  returning,  evidently,  from  a  stroll. 
The  forms  were  dim  and  shadowy  until  they  came  be 
tween  him  and  the  light ;  then  Blake's  deep  voice  was 
heard,  soft,  low,  and  fond. 

"  One  moment,  my  own." 

And  Hollis  saw  him  bend  over  her  ;  saw  her  queenly 
head  thrown  back ;  saw  that  her  glorious  eyes  were  up 
lifted  to  his  worshipping  face ;  saw  her  twine  her  arms 
about  his  neck ;  saw  that  their  lips  met  in  long,  linger 
ing  kiss ;  and  then,  his  arm  about  her  waist,  her  grace 
ful  form  nestling  in  his  embrace,  they  moved  slowly  to 
the  cottage,  and,  with  a  gasp  and  stifled  sob,  poor 
Tommy  turned  away.  He  had  seen  more  than  enough. 
He  never  thought  to  look  upon  her  face  again. 

27* 


318  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

That  night,  about  eleven,  Mr.  Blake  returned  to  the 
Rockingham,  walked  straight  to  the  office  and  asked  for 
his  key.  It  was  handed  him  with  a  couple  of  letters. 
He  took  them  and  hastened  to  his  room.  In  three 
minutes  he  was  back. 

"  Come  with  me  at  once,"  he  spoke  in  low,  stern 
tone,  though  his  lips  were  twitching  with  excitement. 
"  Everything  has  been  ransacked,  and  I  am  robbed.7' 

"  Mr.  Blake !  It  isn't  possible,"  exclaimed  the 
clerk.  "  Never  has  such  a  thing  happened  here."  But 
Blake's  only  answer  was,  "  Come  and  see,"  as  he 
hastened  away,  the  clerk  at  his  heels. 

The  trunk  was  found  burst  open ;  the  tray  was  out 
upon  the  floor ;  the  contents  were  scattered  about.  The 
bureau  drawer  had  been  ransacked.  The  whole  room 
was  in  confusion. 

"  How  on  earth  could  the  man  have  entered  ?  Not 
by  that  window,  surely  ;  it's  too  far  from  the  ground. 
It  must  have  been  the  door,  and  yet,  what  thief  would 
dare  pass  the  length  of  that  corridor.  Has  anybody 
been  here  from  the  office  ? — any  servant  ?  any  bell-boy  ?" 
asked  Blake,  hunting  as  he  poke  among  his  plundered 
possessions. 

"  Every  servant  in  the  house  has  been  with  us  years, 
Mr.  Blake.  It  was  no  employee  of  ours.  Tell  me 
quick  what  is  gone  ?" 

"  I  can't  tell,"  said  Blake,  slowly  ;— "  can't  tell  yet, 
at  least,  everything  is  in  such  confusion.  I  had  no 
valuables  here  to  speak  of,  nothing  but  letters  and 
papers.  Some  of  them  I  cannot  find." 

"  Has  nothing  been  stolen,  sir,  no  jewelry,  money?" 

"  Nothing.     I  had  nothing  except  what  you  see  there 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  319 

and  what  is  in  the  safe.  It  was  not  that  the  scoundrel 
wanted.  Not  that  that  he  has  taken,"  exclaimed  the 
lieutenant,  now  on  his  knees  among  the  scattered 
papers.  "  Has  any  one  been  here  ?"  asked  he,  suddenly. 
u  Has  any  one  had  access  to  the  room  ?" 

"  Only  one  man,  Mr.  Blake ;  but  we  supposed  he 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  yours, — Lieutenant  Hollis." 

"What?"  exclaimed  Blake,  springing  to  his  feet. 
"  What !  In  God's  name,  man,  think  what  you  are 
saying.  Mr.  Hollis  here  ? — in  my  room  ? — to-night?'' 

"  Yes,  sir,  he  came  on  the  up  train  at  seven-thirty, 
and  asked  to  go  into  your  room  to  put  on  a  clean  collar 
before  supper." 

"  Where  is  he  now  ?"  interrupted  Blake,  hoarsely. 
"Where  is  he  now?" 

"  Gone,  sir  ;  on  the  nine-fifty  south,  over  an  hour  ago. 
My  heavens,  lieutenant,  I  hope — I  hope  there's  nothing 
wrong.  I  supposed  he  was  a  friend  of  yours,  and 
everybody  thought  him  a  gentleman.  It  isn't  too 
late,  sir.  I  can  telegraph  down  the  road  and  have  him 
arrested  almost  anywhere.  Let  me  go  and  call  Mr. 
Lord,  the  proprietor ;  he  isn't  asleep  yet,"  and  the  clerk 
started  for  the  door. 

'*  No,  stop  !"  called  Blake,  rousing  himself  from  the 
half-stupor  into  which  he  was  plunged.  "  Come  back, 
— come  back  and  promise  me — not  one  word  of  this  to 
a  soul — not  one  word  to  anybody,  high  or  low.  Prom 
ise  me." 

And  with  the  morrow's  sun  Blake,  too,  was  speeding 
away,  leaving  only  a  hurried  note  to  explain. 


320  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  night  train  that  bore  Mr.  Hollis  southward 
was  not  crowded  by  any  means,  a  fact  that  enabled  him 
to  get  into  a  seat  by  himself  and  to  barricade  the  unoc 
cupied  end  of  it  with  his  satchel.  The  most  sociable 
of  men  ordinarily,  and  eager  to  make  himself  agreeable 
to  anybody  and  everybody,  he  felt  now  that  the  world 
had  indeed  betrayed  him  and  that  he  was  a  wronged 
and  defrauded  man.  His  eyes  having  been  at  last 
opened,  and  having  seen  for  himself  the  depth  of  the 
woman's  duplicity,  he  recalled  the  many  insinuations 
at  her  expense  made  by  the  ladies  of  the  two  regiments 
in  which  he  had  served,  and  the  very  broad  hints 
poured  into  his  unwilling  ears  by  Mrs.  "Wilkins. 
"  Peggy  O'Dowd  !"  Mrs.  Granger  had  laughingly  ex 
claimed  when  he  confided  to  that  lovely  charmer  the 
gist  of  one  of  the  allegations  laid  by  Mrs.  Wilkins  at 
her  door.  Beyond  that  she  was  something  Irish, 
Tommy  had  no  idea  who  Peggy  O'Dowd  might  be. 
He  never  read,  if  he  could  help  himself,  even  the  daily 
papers,  than  which  no  greater  proof  of  his  intellectual 
short-comings  can  be  adduced  ;  but  he  laughed  because 
she  laughed,  and  he  knew  it  must  be  something  witty 
that  she  had  said. 

But  now  with  all  his  sorely  wounded  heart  he  wished 
that  he  had  given  some  heed  to  Peggy's  recent  warning 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  321 

that  he  would  better  look  twice  before  he  "  lept  wance." 
Mrs.  Wilkins  had  actually  scouted  the  idea  of  Mrs. 
Granger's  really  caring  for  anybody  but  herself.  She 
craved  admiration,  adulation,  worship,  passion,  perhaps, 
as  an  actress  craves  applause,  yet,  having  won  it,  cares 
naught  for  the  source  from  which  it  came.  "  If  any 
man  ever  had  a  place  in  what  she  called  her  heart/' 
said  Mrs.  Wilkins,  "  it  was  our  Leggy  Blake  when  he 
was  young  and  good-look un' ;"  but  she'd  thrown  him 
over  before  ;  she  was  playing  with  him  now,  and  she'd 
throw  him  over,  or  any  other  man,  for  the  next  that 
came  along.  "  She  can  no  more  be  content  without 
somebody  making  love  to  her  than  Crane  can  without 
whiskey,"  was  her  final  clincher.  But  Tommy  thought 
he  understood  her  far  better  than  Mrs.  Wilkins  ever 
could.  How  was  that  coarse,  practical  woman  of  the 
world  to  know  of  the  depth  of  pathos,  patience,  resig 
nation,  of  sweet  Christian  charity  and  forgiveness  that 
lay  beneath  that  polished  surface  ?  How  could  any 
one  at  Russell  begin  to  know  the  suffering  of  her  home- 
life,  wedded  to  that  cold,  unsympathetic,  soulless  man 
of  money  who  chilled  her  enthusiasm,  rebuked  her 
charity,  repelled  her  confidences,  rewarded  her  wifely 
constancy  with  cruel  sarcasm, — dared  to  reply  to  her 
gentle  pleadings  with  brutal  blows.  How  lovely,  how 
saintlike  she  was  that  night  when  she  drew  from  him 
the  unkind  things  the  sisterhood  at  Russell  had  said 
about  her  !  How  exquisite  a  picture  she  made  as  she 
sat  there,  her  hands  meekly  clasped,  her  sweet,  sweet 
face  downcast,  two  great  tears  trickling  slowly  down 
the  velvet  of  her  rounded  cheeks ;  unresentful,  un 
complaining.  How  incomparable  she  was  when  she 


322  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

started  to  her  feet,  the  majesty  of  misjudged  and 
wounded  womanhood  in  her  mien,  "  verd  incessu  patuit 
dea" — a  goddess  in  her  walk,  indeed,  as  she  paced  one 
moment  the  carpeted  floor,  then  turning  suddenly  upon 
him,  smiling  winsomely  through  her  tears,  throwing 
back  her  lovely  head,  she  held  forth  both  her  hands 
with  such  impulsive  gesture  :  "  There  !  we'll  think  no 
more  about  it.  It  is  hard  to  be  so — so  misunderstood  ; 
but  it  is  childish  of  me  to  mind  it.  How  foolish, 
when  I  know  well  it  is  only  because  I  have  so  much 
that  they  have  not,  because  you  are  so  loyally — my 
friend."  Tom  worshipped  her,  as  indeed  who  would 
not  ?  He  had  gone  back  fully  determined  to  have  a 
good  talk  with  Mrs.  Wilkins  and  Mrs.  Turner  and 
Mrs.  Raymond,  and  bring  them  to  their  senses.  He 
even  contemplated  going  to  Mrs.  Atherton  and  Mrs. 
Stannard,  and  assuring  them  how  utterly  mistaken  peo 
ple  were  in  supposing  Mrs.  Granger  heartless  and  vain 
and  shallow.  If  they  only  knew  how  gentle  and  for 
giving  she  had  been  towards  them,  surely  they  would 
relent.  He  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  attempt  a  begin 
ning  with  Mrs.  Turner ;  but  that  lady  had  promptly 
snubbed  him  with  the  remark  that  the  subject  was  one 
that  didn't  interest  her  in  the  least,  which  was  not  true, 
although  it  was  effective.  He  had  even  ventured  on  a 
word  or  two  to  Mrs.  Wilkins,  who  burst  out  laughing 
in  his  face,  and  Tom  couldn't  stand  ridicule. 

And  now  to-night,  as  he  sat  by  the  open  window, 
looking  drearily  out,  not  to  note  the  shadowy  land 
scape  or  the  village  lights  that  went  flashing  by,  but 
solely  because  he  could  not  bear  to  talk  with  any  one, 
he  was  going  over  all  these  mournful  reminiscences; 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  323 

recalling  all  the  warnings  he  had  received,  and  wondering 
why  it  was  that  he  had  never  made  her  speak  of  Blake, 
yet  never  realizing,  even  now,  how  like  putty  he  had 
been  twisted  in  her  pretty  fingers.  And  so,  plunged 
in  melancholy,  he  shut  himself  out  from  the  world 
that  but  the  month  before  had  seemed  so  bright  and 
beautiful,  so  full  of  love  and  gladness.  One  after 
another  the  occupants  of  the  car  sprawled  themselves 
at  length  upon  their  seats  and  sought  such  slumber  as 
the  rushing  train  could  afford  them,  and  still  poor 
Tommy  sat  there  at  his  open  window,  gazing  blankly 
out  into  the  summer  night  and  marvelling  that  the 
stars  could  shine  so  brightly  when  darkness  impene 
trable  had  settled  down  upon  his  life.  At  last,  weary 
and  desolate,  he  crossed  his  arms  over  the  back  of  the 
seat  before  him,  bowed  his  head,  and  wondered  where 
to  go  when  he  reached  the  city.  He  could  not  bear 
the  old  haunts  now.  Where, — how  could  he  spend 
the  glorious  Fourth  and  get  away  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  ? 

The  train  had  come  to  a  stop,  with  the  lights  of  the 
great  city  reflected  in  the  southern  sky.  Three  or  four 
belated  travellers  jumped  aboard.  An  out-bound  ex 
press  went  rushing  by  as  once  again  their  own  got 
under  way,  and  presently  he  heard  the  voice  of  the 
brakeman  accosting  some  one  in  rear  of  him. 

"  You  got  on  at  Berksville,  I  think,  sir  ?  Is  this 
despatch  for  you  ?" 

Berksville !  Even  now  he  could  not  hear  the  name 
without  a  thrill.  Anybody  coming  from  or  going  to 
the  spot  were  she  lived  and  moved  possessed  an  almost 
tragic  interest  to  him.  He  turned  and  saw  a  heavily- 


324  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

built  man  of  middle  age,  with  smooth-shaven  face  and 
heavily-bowed  spectacles,  opening  the  brown  envelope 
of  the  telegraph  company.  He  seemed  merely  to 
glance  at  its  contents  and  then  looked  up  at  the  brake- 
man. 

"Oh,  ah  !  I  beg  pardon,  I  was  half  asleep.  I 
thought  you  said  this  was  for  me.  I  sometimes  get 
despatches  when  travelling.  I'm  very  sorry,  but — it's 
not  mine/7 

And  then,  before  he  could  settle  back  as  though  to 
resume  his  nap,  Hollis  had  caught  a  quick  glance  from 
his  eye  and  had  noted  the  heavy  mould  of  his  neck 
and  shoulders.  There  was  something  familiar  about 
them,  but  it  was  the  despatch  he  was  thinking  of. 
Could  she  already  have  learned  of  his  being  there? 
Could  she  have  anything  to  say?  Was  it  a  recall? 
The  brakeman,  perturbed  and  troubled  that  he  should 
have  given  the  despatch  to  the  wrong  man,  saw  the  ex 
pectancy  in  Tommy's  eye  and  hastened  to  him  : 

"Are  you  Mr.  Hollis,  sir?  That  gentleman  over 
there  opened  it  before  I  could  ask  him  his  name.  He 
got  on  at  Berksville.  I'm  very  sorry." 

But  Hollis  hardly  heard  him.  He  had  seized  and 
was  staring  blankly  at  the  paper. 

"  Lieutenant  T.  P.  Hollis,  U.  S.  Army,  on  No.  12. 
"  Will  follow  by  first  train.     Do  not  fail  to  meet  me 
at  Hoffman  House  at  noon,  4th." 

"  GERALD  BLAKE." 

The  man  who  had  read  the  message,  who  had 
boarded  the  train  at  the  last  moment  at  Berksville, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  325 

whom  be  had  never  noticed  at  all  before,  was  narrowly 
watching  him  now,  his  soft  felt  hat  pulled  down  almost 
over  his  nose.  "  Do  not  fail  to  meet  me  at  Hoffman 
House  at  noon."  Hollis  pondered  over  the  words,  un 
able  to  comprehend  their  meaning.  Of  all  men  on 
earth,  the  one  whom  he  least  desired  now  or  ever  here 
after  to  meet  was  Gerald  Blake — her  lover,  her  accepted, 
his  successful  rival.  Yet  how  could  he  explain  refusal 
or  neglect  ?  He  had  no  engagement,  nowhere  to  go, 
nothing  to  prevent.  When  the  train  rolled  into  the 
vast  and  dimly-lighted  station  he  tossed  his  bag  into 
a  cab  and  bade  the  sleepy  driver  take  him  to  the 
Hoffman  forthwith.  He  never  saw  that  the  man  in 
the  seat  behind  him  had  left  the  car  at  a  station  far 
up-town. 

The  sleepless  night  had  told  upon  him.  He  was 
lying  on  his  bed  next  day,  half  dressed  and  more  than 
half  asleep,  when  there  came  the  sound  of  footsteps 
and  a  sudden  rap  at  the  door,  just  as  the  city  clocks 
were  chiming  twelve. 

"Come  in,"  he  shouted,  quickly  turning  over.  The 
door  was  opened,  and  there,  with  white,  angry  face, 
stood  Blake.  Something  in  his  very  look  checked  the 
greeting  that,  despite  himself  and  from  force  of  habit, 
was  on  Tommy's  lips. 

"  That  will  do  ;  you  can  go,"  said  his  visitor  to  the 
bell-boy,  who  still  hovered  by,  expectant  of  orders  for 
the  bar  and  concomitant  quarters  for  himself.  The 
youngster  turned  resentfully.  Blake  watched  him  until 
he  reached  the  end  of  the  corridor,  entered,  closed  the 
door  behind  him,  glanced  doubtfully  at  the  open  tran 
som,  and  then  turned  on  his  waiting  comrade. 

28 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Hollis,  I  did  not  know  that  you  were  a  damned 
scoundrel." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?"  was  all  the  younger  officer, 
amazed,  could  say. 

"  I  mean  that  you  robbed  my  trunk  last  night,  and 
that  I  have  come  for  those  letters." 

Stupefaction  was  the  only  word  for  it  now.  Hollis 
sat  at  the  edge  of  the  bed,  thrusting  his  feet  in  his 
slippers ;  his  collar  and  cuffs,  coat  and  waistcoat  dis 
carded  ;  he  was  gazing  up  at  the  other's  white,  men 
acing  face,  as  though  he  thought  him  bereft  of  his  senses. 
It  was  a  moment  before  he  could  speak  at  all,  then  he 
stammered, — 

"  Upon  my  soul,  Blake,  I  believe  you're  crazy." 

"No  temporizing,  Hollis!  By  God,  I  begin  to 
see  through  that  Russell  robbery  at  last !  Dare  you 
tell  me  you  took  no  letters  from  my  trunk  last  night?" 

"  What  the  devil  do  you  mean  by  accusing  me, 
Blake?  I  took  nothing  but  what  was  my  own,  not 
yours." 

And  then,  maddened  by  heaven  only  knows  what 
feelings  of  wrath  and  indignation,  Gerald  Blake  made 
one  of  the  worst  mistakes  of  his  life.  Perhaps  he  had 
hoped  that  Hollis  would  deny  any  and  all  knowledge 
of  the  act.  Perhaps  he  was  crazed  by  this  tacit  admis 
sion  of  a  blackguardly  crime.  He  hurled  himself 
full  upon  the  sitting  figure,  grasping  savagely  at  the 
brawny  brown  throat,  and  in  an  instant,  without 
a  word,  cry  or  sound  but  gasping  breath  and  low, 
hoarse,  inarticulate  murmur,  the  two  men  were 
clinched  in  a  desperate  struggle.  Wrath,  fury,  and 
the  tlan  of  attack  gave  Blake  the  first  advantage, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  327 

and  Hollis,  utterly  taken  by  surprise,  was  under 
neath.  For  an  instant  it  seemed  as  though  the  latter 
would  still  have  protested  and  reasoned,  but  Blake's 
fist  had  dealt  one  swift  blow  as  Hollis  thrust  it  from 
his  throat ;  and  now  it  was  battle,  and  battle  in  mad 
earnest.  In  another  moment  it  developed  that  the  older 
officer  was  no  match  at  all  for  the  lithe,  agile,  muscular 
West-Pointer,  whose  every  sinew  seemed  of  steel,  even 
in  that  crippled  leg.  A  moment  of  hoarse  panting,  of 
fierce  blows,  of  savage  grapple,  and  then,  with  a  crash 
that  shook  the  windows  and  the  floor,  Blake  was  hurled 
backwards  against  the  marble  washstand  and  thence  to 
the  sill  beyond,  and  there  he  lay,  white,  limp,  and 
motionless. 

Breathless,  Hollis  stood  one  moment  glaring  upon 
his  prostrate  foe,  amaze  and  wrath  contending  for  the 
mastery.  Never  heeding  the  blood  streaming  from  the 
now-re-opened  wound  in  his  thigh,  and  drenching  a 
towel  with  water,  he  knelt  and  raised  the  humbled 
head.  His  hand  was  instantly  covered  with  the  hot 
flow  from  a  deep  cut  at  the  base  of  the  skull.  Terri 
fied,  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  pulled  a  bell-cord,  and  when 
the  porter  appeared  bade  him  summon  the  house  phy 
sician  at  once.  It  was  ten  minutes  before  the  doctor 
came.  Meantime,  growing  fainter  every  moment, 
Hollis  had  wrought  in  vain, — Blake  lay  stunned  and 
apparently  lifeless.  Hollis  could  barely  gasp  the  story 
to  the  physician. 

"  We  are  old  friends  and  comrades/'  he  said.  "  I 
believe  he  is  crazy.  He  rushed  in  here  ten  minutes 
ago  and  fiercely  attacked  me,  and  this  is  the  result." 

That  night  both  men  were  patients  in  the  care  of 


328  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

the  physician,  who  presently  sent  a  note  to  the  post- 
surgeon  at  Governor's  Island.  The  end  of  the  week 
found  Hollis  sufficiently  restored  to  be  limping  around 
again  ;  but  it  was  a  fortnight  before  Mr.  Blake  was 
allowed  to  sit  up  at  all  and  read  his  letters. 

Meantime,  when  five  days  passed  by  at  Berks ville, 
other  people  besides  the  lovely  widow  began  to  wonder 
why  no  letters  came  from  Blake.  Mrs.  Granger, 
alarmed  beyond  expression,  had  at  last  telegraphed  to 
the  Athenaeum,  and  the  next  day  brought  her  a  reply  : 

"  Mr.  Blake  has  been  ill,  but  doing  well.  Letter  by 
mail."  It  was  signed  Athenaeum  Club,  but  when  the 
mail  was  brought  to  her  on  the  following  day  there 
was  no  letter  from  that  point.  There  was  one  from  her 
lawyer,  which  she  set  aside ;  there  was  one  from  Mrs. 
Morris,  which  was  also  passed  over.  The  third  was 
addressed  in  the  familiar  hand  of  Mr.  Hollis,  and  she 
opened  it  with  an  odd  sensation  at  heart,  something 
akin  to  foreboding. 


HOFFMAN  HOUSE,  NEW  YORK,  July  10,  1877. 

"  You  are  doubtless  anxious  about  Mr.  Blake,  and, 
there  being  no  one  else  available,  I  write  to  say  that 
your  letters  to  him  are  here,  and  that  he  will  reply  as 
soon  he  is  a  little  stronger.  He  fell,  striking  the  back 
of  his  head  and  sustaining  an  ugly  cut;  was  knocked 
senseless  and  lost  much  blood  before  the  doctor  reached 
him,  so  that  for  several  days  he  has  been  cautioned 
to  keep  very  quiet.  Doctor  Griffin,  of  the  army,  is 
attending  him,  and  pronounces  him  out  of  all  danger, 
though  weak.  Friends  are  close  at  hand,  so  that  he 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  329 

wants  for  nothing  they  can  give.  I  shall  remain  so 
long  as  I  can  be  of  use,  and  if  I  can  serve  you  in  any 
way,  please  do  not  hesitate  to  call  upon 

"  Yours,  most  obediently, 

"  THOMAS  P.  HOLLIS." 

Mrs.  Granger  turned  white  when  she  read  this. 
"  Then,  despite  my  prohibition,  Gerald  must  have  told 
him,  and  he  was  here  that  night,  as  people  said."  She 
grew  whiter  still  as  she  read  her  lawyer's  letter. 

"  It  may  be  necessary  for  you  to  come  to  Denver.  I 
have  had  consultation  with  Judge  Lawrence,  but  the 
parties  refuse  to  communicate  with  him  and  they  re 
iterate  their  demands.  We  probably  could  lay  hands 
upon  them  by  setting  the  detectives  on  their  track,  but 
your  instructions  are  imperative,  '  no  arrests  to  be 
made.'  There  is  still  nothing  to  be  heard  of  the  man 
Brooks.  He  has  disappeared  entirely." 

She  turned  and  took  from  her  desk  another  note,  re 
ceived  two  days  before,  postmarked  New  York,  and 
written  in  a  clerkly  hand,  though  evidently  disguised. 
It  was  brief  enough  : 

"  Either  that  money  must  be  in  our  hands  within 
the  coming  month  or  the  proofs  of  his  murder  at  your 
instigation,  of  her  existence,  and  your  letters  to  your 
lover,  Blake,  will  be  given  to  the  world." 

"  My  God !"  she  moaned,  "  and  I  have  no  one  to 
advise,  no  one  to  aid  me." 

When,  a  fortnight  later,  Mr.  Blake  was  considered 
well  enough  to  be  allowed  to  travel,  Hollis  had  dis 
appeared  from  the  scene.  Some  letters  addressed  to 
the  latter  were  returned  to  the  writer  at  Berksville,  he 

28* 


330  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

having  given  no  directions  as  to  the  forwarding  of  mail. 
Letters  in  similar  envelopes  and  superscription  were 
carried  up  to  Mr.  Blake's  room  from  time  to  time,  and 
presently  brief  notes  were  despatched  in  reply.  About 
the  20th  of  July  two  ladies  arrived  one  morning,  were 
received  with  much  courtesy  by  Doctor  Griffin,  and 
shown  to  their  rooms.  Later  Blake  was  assisted  down 
into  the  parlor  and  had  a  long  interview  with  the 
younger  and  fairer  one — the  dame  in  the  deep,  deep 
mourning.  Doctor  Griffin  found  him  rather  worse  as 
a  result,  and  cautioned  him  to  remain  quietly  in  his 
room  for  another  day  or  two. 

"  Mountain  air  is  what  you're  needing,  now/7  said 
Griffin,  "  and  absolute  freedom  from  excitement." 

The  ladies  returned  to  Berksville,  and  then  it  was 
noted  that  Mrs.  Granger  seemed  looking  far  from  well. 
She  was  pallid  and  harassed.  The  sketching  tours 
were  abandoned.  The  men,  who  came  up  Sundays,  and 
only  saw  her  in  church,  thought  her  saint-like  in  her 
loveliness  and  devotion.  The  women,  who  had  been 
there  through  week  after  week,  thought  her  anything 
but  saint-like,  and  that  devotion  was  what  she  lacked — 
the  devotion  of  a  lover.  Nobody  was  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  beautiful  widow  found  the  air  oppressive  now 
and  desired  to  sublet  her  cottage.  A  tenant  for  August 
and  September  was  easily  found.  They  packed  their 
trunks  and  flitted  away,  and  Mrs.  Hagadorn,  the  post 
mistress,  said  their  letters  were  forwarded  to  Mont- 
clair,  somewhere  in  the  Blue  Ridge.  Early  in  August 
Blake  applied  for  a  month's  extension  to  his  leave  and 
got  it.  The  ladies  were  by  this  time  safely  installed 
in  the  roomy  old  resort  where,  ten  long  years  before, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  331 

he  had  met  and  worshipped  Madeleine  Torrance,  and 
thither  was  he  bidden  to  come  and  worship  anew. 
Here  he  spent  a  fortnight  of  bliss,  slowly  regaining 
strength,  basking  all  day  long  in  the  love-light  in 
those  glorious  eyes,  yet  marvelling  at  her  pallor  and 
nervousness,  her  fits  of  abstraction.  And  late  in  the 
month  a  letter  came  whose  contents  she  did  not  show 
him,  but  he  found  her  prostrate  and  weeping. 

"  Gerald  !  Gerald  !"  she  cried,  "  they  say  I  had  him 
murdered  that  I  might  marry  you.  They  say  they 
have  a  host  of  witnesses  and  that  only  money  will 
stop  their -tongues,  only  money  will  buy  back  those 
mad  letters.  Judge  Lawrence  bids  me  come  to  Denver 
at  once." 

And  though  he  knew  no  letter  written  during 
Granger's  life  was  among  those  stolen  from  his  trunk, 
and  though  he  implored  her  to  let  the  lawyers  place 
detectives  on  the  track  and  run  the  scoundrels  to  earth, 
and  declared  it  all  a  villanous  blackmailing  scheme, 
she  shrank,  she  said,  from  the  shame  and  scandal  their 
arrest  would  surely  bring  about.  She  must  go,  go  and 
buy  them  off.  She  had  known  for  nearly  three  weeks 
now  that  the  letters  were  indeed  in  the  possession  of 
some  unscrupulous  foes  ;  for  the  missives  that  came  in 
the  clerkly  hand  were  filled  with  quotations  of  her  own ' 
words.  She  had  forbidden  him  to  employ  detectives 
to  trace  the  robber,  whom  he  now  believed  to  be  none 
other  than  one  of  the  Brooks7  gang ;  for  in  his  conva 
lescence  the  doctor  had  given  him  a  brief,  cold  note  from 
Hollis,  in  which  the  latter  told  him  that  all  he  had 
taken  from  the  room  was  the  page  or  two  he  himself 
had  written  and  left  under  the  paper  in  the  upper 


332  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

drawer ;  but  that,  now  that  he  knew  of  the  robbery 
that  must  have  occurred  after  he  left,  he  had  written 
Mr.  Lord  about  the  burly,  bearded  stranger  whom  he 
found  in  the  passage-way,  and  of  the  burly,  spectacled 
stranger  who  went  down  with  him  on  the  train.  Mr. 
Lord  and  the  clerk  had  both  written  Blake  that  this 
man  was  undoubtedly  the  thief.  He  had  not  even 
registered,  but  had  sauntered  in  among  the  other  guests, 
apparently  looking  for  friends  ;  had  inspected  the  reg 
ister  and  key-board,  and  had  disappeared  as  suddenly 
as  he  came.  Hollis  told  Blake  that  no  apology  need 
be  tendered.  He  knew  of  nothing  now  that  could 
atone  for  the  wrong  Blake  had  done  him.  The  severe 
injuries  the  latter  had  sustained  were  his  own  fault. 

The  time  had  been  when  Blake  believed  that  the 
love  and  companionship  of  that  exquisite  woman  would 
make  him  forget  the  world.  She  loved  him.  She  had 
promised  to  be  his  wife  just  so  soon  as  her  affairs  could 
be  disentangled  and  the  conventional  period  of 
mourning  be  over.  And  yet  he  was  vaguely  troubled, 
Bitterly  he  moaned  his  mad  injustice  to  Hollis.  Rue 
fully  he  sought  for  some  comrade  to  make  peace  between 
them.  He  longed  for  Ray,  whom  Hollis  enthusiastic 
ally  believed  in,  but  Ray  was  away  on  his  wedding- 
tour,  "  doing"  the  Thousand  Isles  and  lower  St.  Law 
rence.  He  could  not  intrude  on  the  honeymoon  joys 
with  trouble  such  as  this.  He  could  not  tell  Ray  what 
had  happened  without  announcing  the  existence  of  an 
understanding,  if  not  an  engagement,  between  him  and 
Granger's  widow,  and  this  she  forbade,  and  he,  too, 
shrank  from,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  knew  how 
Ray  would  regard  the  matter.  A  few  months  agone 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  333 

and  he  would  have  looked  with  joy  upon  the  prospect 
of  being  her  escort  anywhere.  Now  he  looked  with 
ill-concealed  anxiety  to  see  whether  any  one  whom  he 
knew  was  on  the  train  that  bore  them  westward.  Mrs. 
Morgan  was  fatigued  and  begged  to  stop  over  one  night 
in  St.  Louis,  but  Blake  urged  them  on.  They  were  in 
Denver, — she  at  the  Lawrence's,  he  at  the  hotel, — on 
the  28th,  and  the  next  day,  following  a  clue  furnished 
her  by  her  legal  adviser,  Blake  pushed  out  westward 
over  the  range  to  Leadville. 

"  They  will  not  deal  with  any  one  they  do  not  know, 
Gerald,"  she  had  said.  "  You  alone  can  help  me ;  you 
alone  can  save  me  from  life-long  misery,  or  I  would 
not  let  you  go." 

"  Watch  the  despatches,"  he  said  to  her  in  reply. 
"  Those  Indians  are  coming  across  the  Rockies  near  the 
Yellowstone  Park.  If  they  do,  the  — th  will  go  sure, 
and  I  must  be  with  them.  Get  all  telegrams  that 
come  for  me  and  repeat  instantly  anything  from  the 
regiment." 

She  promised,  and  he  was  gone ;  gone,  and  within 
twenty-four  hours  not  one,  but  three  despatches  were  in 
her  hands,  repeated  from  New  York. 

"  We  take  the  field  at  once,"  they  said.  "  Where 
will  you  join  us?"  asked  Billings.  "Your  horse  and 
field-kit  with  us,"  said  Freeman.  "You  can  catch  us 
on  the  wing."  "Ray  leaves  New  York,  Pennsylvania 
road,  Thursday  night;  Stannard  meets  him  Pittsburg. 
Wire  them,"  was  Billings'  next  message.  She  could 
repeat  these  to  him  and  they  would  reach  him  within 
the  next  day  or  two  ;  but  she  hid  them  from  sight  of 
all. 


334  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Five  days  passed,  then  came  a  hurried  line  :  "  I  have 
just  seen  a  Denver  paper,  saying  troops  from  Cheyenne 
and  elsewhere  had  been  sent  to  the  field.  Your  letters 
make  no  mention  of  it.  Wire  me  at  once  whether  you 
have  examined  all  mail  and  telegrams.  Are  you  sure 
there  are  no  orders  from  Russell  ?"  And  still  she  de 
layed  reply,  until  there  came  on  the  morrow  an  imper 
ative  despatch  : 

"  I  must  give  up  the  search  and  return  instantly,  un 
less  you  wire  there  are  no  despatches  for  me." 

And  then  she  telegraphed :  "  No  orders  whatever. 
Have  you  not  succeeded  ?  Offer  more,  if  need  be." 

Late  at  night,  five  days  afterwards,  hollow-eyed, 
haggard  and  covered  with  dust,  a  traveller  strode 
into  the  office  of  the  hotel  in  Denver.  A  young  gen 
tleman  in  civilian  dress  sprang  forward  to  meet  him. 

"  Blake,  old  man,  where  on  earth  have  you  been  ? 
We  thought  you  must  be  ill,  and  Waldron  sent  me 
down  to  hunt  for  you.  They  told  us  your  despatches 
were  forwarded  here." 

"  Has  the  — th  gone  ?"  asked  Blake,  white  to  his 
lips. 

"Gone?  Heavens,  yes,  man!  They'll  be  out  of 
all  reach  now " 

"Where  are  my  telegrams?"  interrupted  Blake, 
turning  fiercely  on  the  clerk. 

"  We  gave  them,  three  of  them,  to  the  lady  who 
came  with  Judge  Lawrence.  Her  name  was  Mrs. " 

"  Hush,"  said  Blake.     "  That's— that's  enough." 

And  then  Mr.  Foster  saw  that  something  was  indeed 
wrong ;  for  his  tall  friend  sank  helplessly  into  a  chair. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  335 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  campaign  was  over  and,  so  far  as  the  — th 
was  concerned,  it  seemed  almost  before  it  began.  In 
stead  of  swooping  down  into  the  wild  and  beautiful 
valleys  that  opened  towards  the  storied  Big  Horn 
from  the  west,  the  hunted  foe  had  turned  northeast 
ward,  and,  with  marvelous  pluck  and  skill,  forced 
their  way  far  down  into  the  lowlands  of  the  Yellow 
stone,  thence  northward  towards  the  border.  Couriers, 
recalling  Atherton  and  the  — th,  reached  them  only 
when  they  had  penetrated  to  the  very  confines  of  the  Na 
tional  Park,  and  then  came  the  long,  long  homeward 
march.  Leisurely  now  they  wound  through  the  wild 
and  picturesque  valleys  of  the  Ishawooa,  the  Gray 
Bull,  the  Meeyero.  Magnificent  were  the  frowning, 
storm-capped  peaks  at  the  west ;  bold  and  precipitous 
the  divides  between  the  rushing  streams  ;  glorious  the 
sweep  of  mountain  scenery  on  every  side,  as  the 
returning  troopers  rode  buoyantly  along.  Once  more 
the  guidons  fluttered  across  the  Owl  Creek  range ;  once 
more  the  camp-fires  twinkled  in  the  Wind  River 
Valley ;  once  more  the  sturdy  horses  quenched  their 
thirst  in  the  foaming  Popo  Agie,  then  breasted  the 
lofty  barrier  bluffs  that  shut  off  the  valley  of  the 
Sweetwater  beyond.  Long  dusty  days  they  jogged 
eastward  over  the  old  Mormon  trail,  following  the 


336  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

lead  of  their  soldier  colonel,  to  whom  every  bend  was 
familiar.  By  DeviPs  Gate  and  Independence  Rock 
their  standard  floated  on  its  homeward  way.  Once 
more  they  plunged  into  the  rushing  waters  of  the 
Platte;  once  more  they  sighted  from  afar  the  bare 
brown  roofs  and  walls  of  Fetterman,  perched  on  its 
barren  height,  ugly,  forbidding,  yet  ever  hospitable. 
Again  the  long  column  plashed  through  La  Prele  and 
La  Bonte",  streams  so  well  known  to  the  old  trappers  and 
voyageurs,  and  the  bivouac  fires  gleamed  in  the  mirror 
faces  of  the  rock-framed  pools.  Again  they  swung 
their  broad-brimmed  hats  and  cheered  the  familiar 
sight  of  the  old  Laramie  stage,  lunging  down  the 
Chug  water  bluffs,  only  two  days7  march  from  home ; 
and  all  along  the  way,  night  after  night,  there  had 
been  wondering  talk  as  to  how  it  was  and  why  it  was 
that  Gerald  Blake  had  never  joined.  He  who  was 
once  the  life  of  every  camp-fire,  the  centre  of  every 
group,  the  jolliest,  merriest  of  all  their  number,  why 
was  he  silent,  why  was  he  absent  now  ? 

When  Atherton  chose  to  keep  his  own  counsel  no 
man  need  try  to  coax  him  to  speak.  Stannard,  Free 
man  and  Ray  were  in  sore  perplexity.  They  were 
deeply  attached  to  Blake,  yet  seemed  powerless  to  serve 
him  now  in  the  black  blight  that  had  come  upon  his 
name.  Atherton  simply  would  not  talk  of  the  matter 
at  all.  It  must  wait,  he  said,  until  they  had  reached 
the  winter  station.  Fierce  and  desperate  fighting  had 
taken  place.  Many  a  gallant  officer  and  man  had 
been  laid  low.  The  — th  had  only  by  accident  failed 
to  get  its  share  of  the  dance.  There  was  every  proba 
bility  when  they  took  the  field  that  they  would  be  as 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  337 

sharply  engaged  as  were  the  detachments  that  grappled 
with  the  Indian  on  his  way.  No  soldier  who  valued 
his  honor  or  his  good  name  could  afford  to  hang  back ; 
yet  throughout  the  — th  to-day  it  was  well  understood 
that  Gerald  Blake  was  only  a  few  hours'  ride  from 
them  when  the  summons  came ;  that,  while  Stannard, 
Ray  and  Hollis  had  fairly  rushed  to  join  their  com 
rades  from  the  far-distant  East,  Blake,  who  that  very 
day  was  known  to  have  been  in  Denver  and  expectant 
of  despatches  from  his  regiment,  had  seen  fit  to  remain 
in  hiding  and  send  no  word  whatever  until  a  fortnight 
after.  It  was  known  that  Atherton  had  received  a 
despatch  from  him  among  the  papers  brought  by 
courier  just  about  as  they  reached  Cedar  Mountain, 
just  a  day  or  so  before  they  turned  back,  and  that 
Atherton  had  directed  Mr.  Billings  to  notify  Blake 
that  he  might  return  to  Russell, — his  services  would 
not  be  required  with  the  column, — or  words  to  that 
effect.  Letters  which  came  from  Russell  and  met 
them  on  their  homeward  way  said  that  Blake  event 
ually  arrived  there,  but  that  no  one  saw  anything  of 
him, — he  seemed  simply  stunned.  Stannard,  Ray  and 
Freeman  again  stood  stanchly  by  their  friend  and  de 
clared  that  they  felt  certain  everything  would  be 
explained.  The  colonel  had  intimated  that  everything 
would  have  to  be  explained  the  moment  they  got  back 
to  Russell.  Billings  would  not  speak  of  the  matter 
at  all, — he  could  not,  being  adjutant;  he  only  knew 
that  Blake  had  followed  the  regiment  as  far  as  Old 
Camp  Brown  and  was  trying  to  get  forward  from  there 
when  the  orders  came  recalling  them  from  the  field. 
The  Indian  scouts  who  were  entrusted  with  the 
p  w  29 


338  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

despatches  took  four  days  to  catch  the  regiment  and 
six  days  to  get  back  to  Brown,  where  poor  Blake  had 
fretted  himself  into  a  fever  and  was  under  the  doctor's 
care.  "Pills77  would  not  let  him  see  the  adjutant's 
formal  reply  until  two  days  after  the  Indians  brought 
it.  Then  he  shipped  him  down  by  easy  stages  to 
Stambaugh,  Atlantic,  and  Big  Sandy,  and  so  on  back 
to  Russell.  "  He  was  a  sick  man  after  he  came  to 
Brown/7  said  the  doctor  ;  "  but  all  right,  physically,  at 
least,  when  he  reached  there.7' 

"  What  stampedes  everybody,77  said  Clark,  "  is  the 
fact  that  '  Legs7  got  the  telegrams  sent  by  Billings  and 
Freeman,  and  yet  made  no  reply.77 

Every  man  was  grave  and  sad  when  the  case  was 
discussed,  but  there  was  one  who,  looking  grave  and 
sad  and  several  years  older,  could  not  be  dragged  into 
the  faintest  expression  unfavorable  to  Blake.  He  even 
went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  it  was  his  belief  that 
Blake  never  got  those  telegrams  until  too  late.  And 
that  man  was  Tommy  Hollis. 

Freeman  and  Ray  shook  hands  with  Tom  and 
thanked  him  and  begged  him  to  tell  them  how  he 
knew  ;  but  Tommy  would  not.  He  turned  red,  stam 
mered,  and  said  he  really  didn't  know,  couldn't  prove 
it,  but,  all  the  same,  he  would  be  willing  to  bet.  Not 
until  they  reached  Camp  Brown  on  their  homeward 
way  did  the  letters  from  Russell  meet  them  with  the 
significant  news  that  Mrs.  Granger  was  at  Denver  all 
this  time;  and  then  men  stopped  conjecturing  the 
cause  of  Blake's  detention. 

But  the  days  were  blacker  still  for  Blake  when  the 
dear  old  regiment  hove  in  sight  over  the  distant  divide 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  339 

to  the  north,  and  the  band  went  far  out  on  the  prairie 
to  meet  them,  and  the  whole  post  turned  out  to  bid 
them  welcome.  He  had  sought  Major  Waldron's  per 
mission  to  go  forward  to  the  Chugwater  and  join  them 
there,  and,  to  his  dismay,  Waldron  hemmed  and 
hawed  and  was  visibly  disconcerted,  but  finally  stam 
mered  out, — 

"  I'm  heartily  sorry  I  cannot  say  yes,  Mr.  Blake ; 
but  in  point  of  fact,  Colonel  Atherton  thinks  you 
should  not  see  the  regiment  until  he  has  seen  you, 
which  will  be  just  as  soon  as  he  arrives." 

Blake  shut  himself  in  his  room,  and  there  Ray 
rushed  and  found  him ;  there  that  night  Stannard, 
Freeman,  and  Truscott  came  to  counsel  and  sympathize, 
but  he  could  not  be  comforted.  Asked  if  the  de 
spatches  had  not  reached  him  in  time,  he  said  they  had 
reached  Denver  before  any  one  but  the  colonel  and 
Billings  had  started.  He  could  have  caught  the  com 
mand  by  the  2d  or  3d  of  September,  but  for — but  for 
his  own  fault;  he  had  failed  to  make  proper  provision 
to  have  those  messages  forwarded  to  him.  He  was 
out  towards  Leadville  when  they  reached  Denver. 

The  colonel  was  very  cold  and  formal.  He  had  a 
theory  of  his  own  after  learning  that  Mrs.  Granger 
had  been  at  Denver  all  the  time.  He  asked  Blake 
how  it  was  that  other  letters  were  forwarded  to  him 
unerringly,  and  that  these  most  important  despatches 
were  withheld.  The  question  was  point-blank. 

"  I  can  only  reply,  sir,  that  they  did  not  reach  me," 
was  Blake's  answer,  "  and  that  the  fault  was  entirely 
my  own." 

But  Atherton  felt  that  there  was  something  back  of 


340  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

all  this.  He  had  heard  from  Mr.  Foster  that  the 
clerk  at  the  hotel  had  delivered  those  despatches  to 
somebody  who  came  with  Judge  Lawrence,  and  Ather- 
ton  believed  that  somebody  to  be  Mrs.  Granger.  He 
believed  further  that  this  charming  Delilah  had  be 
trayed  the  man  whose  infatuation  for  her  was  such 
that  it  compelled  him  to  silence  now  when  his  own 
honor  demanded  speech.  Atherton  saw  that  Blake 
could  not  defend  himself  except  by  dragging  her  name 
into  the  case.  He  liked  him  none  the  less  because  he 
would  not  take  refuge  behind  a  woman's  wrong ;  but 
all  the  same  he  felt  that  the  discipline  and  integrity  of 
the  regiment  demanded  that  Blake  should  be  given  a 
lesson, — that  he  should  be  put  and  kept  under  the  ban 
for  the  time  being.  And  so,  considering  it  no  case  for 
arrest  or  charges,  he  plainly  and  properly  and  sternly 
censured  the  senior  lieutenant  for  his  failure  to  join 
them  for  the  field. 

The  man,  it  may  be  remarked,  who  was  most  scan 
dalized  by  Blake's  conduct  was  Mr.  Crane. 

"Do  you  mean  he  isn't  going  to  demand  a  court 
of  inquiry?"  asked  that  sensitive  gentleman.  "If  it 
was  me  I'd  never  rest  till  I'd  had  one,"  he  declared. 
Whereat  the  "  youngsters"  laughed. 

But  even  to  his  intimates  poor  "  Legs"  had  made  no 
mention  of  her  name.  One  and  all,  the  gentlemen  of 
the  regiment  felt  that  he  was  right.  No  matter  how 
deep  the  censure,  he  could  seek  no  vindication;  he 
must  simply  bear  his  load  in  patience  until  opportunity 
was  afforded  him  to  redeem  himself.  Stannard  and 
Freeman,  Truscott  and  Ray  had  a  quiet  consultation  ; 
had  decided  that  while  he  must  be  made  to  feel  that 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  341 

their  faith  and  friendship  was  not  staggered  in  the 
least,  the  course  he  had  chosen  was  doubtless  the  true 
one, — to  bear  his  burden  and  to  make  no  moan.  They 
would  see  to  it  that  no  one  was  allowed  to  impugn  his 
motives  in  holding  back  ;  but  even  to  themselves  they 
mourned  his  supposedly  hopeless  and  unconquerable 
passion  for  Granger's  widow.  They  wondered  whether 
now  he  would  not  break  with  her  for  good  and  all. 
Devoutly  they  hoped  that  he  might. 

And  then  Captain  Ray  had  to  hurry  on  to  his  troop, 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  seen  them  safely  housed  for  the 
winter  he  applied  for  permission  to  return  to  his  status 
of  "  absent  with  leave,"  which  leave  he  had  thrown  to 
the  winds  when  the  regiment  took  the  field.  Truscott, 
too,  got  a  long  leave  and  went  East  to  join  Grace  and 
baby  Jack,  and  Freeman,  to  his  huge  delight,  and  almost 
everybody's  satisfaction — (Nobody  can  ever  do  any 
thing  or  get  anything  in  the  army  without  somebody's 
being — to  use  a  newspaper  expression — "disgruntled") 
— Freeman  was  summoned  to  staff  duty  at  division  head 
quarters,  a  most  deserved  compliment.  Stannard  was 
ordered  to  take  command  of  a  new  post  being  built  up 
among  the  hills.  Buxton,  the  senior  captain,  returned 
from  recruiting  service  and  took  the  Freeman's  quar 
ters,  and  to  Blake,  at  least,  the  whole  social  atmosphere 
of  Russell  had  undergone  a  change  very  much  for  the 
worse.  The  j oiliest,  merriest  fellow  of  the  old  days 
went  silently  about  his  duties  as  commander  of  Free 
man's  troop ;  withdrew  from  the  bachelor  mess,  not 
without  earnest  protests  from  Clark  and  Dana  and 
Hunter,  and  kept  house  all  by  himself,  living  in  a 
desolation  of  spirit  that  no  one  even  faintly  conceived ; 

29* 


342  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

for  no  one  knew  how  deep,  how  very  deep,  was  the 
wound  that  laid  him  low. 

In  speaking  of  the  night  on  which  he  had  found 
Blake  in  Denver,  Mr.  Foster  said  to  Waldron  that  he 
had  evidently  just  arrived  from  the  mining  camp;  that 
he  had  been  away  nearly  a  fortnight;  that  nothing 
could  describe  his  dismay  and  distress  when  he  heard 
that  it  was  too  late  to  overtake  the  troops.  "  There 
was  no  train  north  until  noon  next  day,"  said  Foster, 
"  and  he  was  nearly  mad  with  nervousness  and  trouble." 
He  did  not  go  to  bed,  but  paced  the  floor  most  of  the 
night;  Foster  heard  him,  and,  when  morning  came, 
having  shaved  and  changed  his  dress,  he  was  still  look 
ing  terribly  ill.  But  even  Foster  knew  nothing  of  what 
took  place  in  those  weary  hours  that  dragged  by  while 
they  were  waiting  for  the  northward  train.  With  a 
little  packet,  sealed  and  corded,  in  his  hand,  Blake  had 
gone  to  Judge  Lawrence's  and  asked  for  Mrs.  Granger. 
He  was  shown  into  the  parlor,  and  in  two  minutes,  for 
she  had  received  telegraphic  notice  of  his  coming,  she 
came  fluttering  down,  closed  the  hall-door  behind  her, 
all  aglow  with  joy,  gratitude,  relief,  delight ;  had  turned 
as  though  to  throw  herself  in  his  arms,  but  she  stopped 
and  the  color  fled  instantly  from  her  face,  the  light 
died  from  her  eyes ;  she  read  discovery  in  the  first 
glance  at  his  face. 

"  Gerald  !"  she  managed  to  falter,  "  what — what  has 

happened  ?  Why  do  you "  But  he  checked  her 

with  uplifted  hand. 

"  Let  me  report  the  end  of  my  mission,"  he  said,  in 
tones  that  trembled  far  more  than  he  wished,  though 

/  o 

his  voice  was  deep  and  stern.     "  Here  are  your  letters ; 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  343 

no  money  was  needed.  On  this  score,  at  least  on  my 
account,  you  can  never  be  disquieted  again.  So  my 
trust  has  been  fulfilled.  And  now  what  have  you  to 
say  of  yours  ?  Where  are  those  despatches  ?" 

"Do  not  speak  to  me  like  this?  You  terrify  me, 
Gerald.  In  God's  name,  what  does  it  mean  ?  Of 
what  do  you  accuse  me  ?" 

"  Of  betraying  me,  of  compassing  my  dishonor  and 
disgrace;  of  lying,  in  fact.  Where  are  those  orders?" 

"  Gerald,  I  swear  to  you  there  came  no  orders.  I 
told  you  the  truth — no  orders  whatsoever." 

"  Those  despatches,  then ;  those  summonses  to  the 
field  with  my  regiment,  where  this  very  day,  for  aught 
I  know,  they  are  battling  with  the  Indians  and  jeering 
at  me  for  my  desertion.  Where  have  you  hidden 
them  ?  Why  ?  My  God,  Madeleine,  why  did  you  not 
forward  them  ?" 

"  Gerald,  Gerald  !"  she  cried,  sinking  on  her  knees, 
the  ready  tears  starting  to  her  eyes,  "  I  swear  to  you  I 
meant  no  wrong.  They  were  not  orders;  they  did  not 
even  bid  you  come.  You  were  on  leave.  You  did 
not  have  to  go,  and  I  knew  that  if  you  saw  them  you 
would  be  restless,  unhappy.  You  would  want  to  leave 
me,  Gerald,  and  I  loved  you, — needed  you  so.  Oh, 
darling,  don't  blame  me  !" 

But  he  never  drew  nearer,  never  stooped  to  raise  her. 
One  moment  he  was  silent,  then  once  more  he  spoke : 

"  How  can  you  look  me  in  the*  face  and  lie  ?  I 
warned  you  that  the  — th  would  almost  surely  go.  I 
warned  you  those  despatches  were  almost  sure  to  come. 
You  promised — you  promised  to  send  them  at  once, 
and  you  broke  your  word  utterly,  as  you  have  broken 


344  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

me.  Where  are  those  despatches,  I  say?  I  want 
them  and  at  once." 

"  Gerald,  on  ray  sacred  word,  they  were  not  impor 
tant.  They  said  nothing  about  your  coming.  One 
was  from  Captain  Freeman,  and  the  other  from  the 
adjutant,  merely  to  tell  what  routes  some  officers  would 
take.  You  could  not  mean — you  did  not  mean  that 
when  I  was  here,  in  desperation,  almost,  over  these 
troubles,  that  you  would  leave  me ;  you  on  whom  I 
had  learned  to  lean  •  you  for  whose  sake  I  have  suffered 
such  calumny,  curses,  blows ;  you  whom  I  loved  so- 
so  wildly?  Oh,  how  could  you,  how  can  you,  be  so 
cruel !"  And  now  she  had  risen  and  thrown  herself 
weeping  upon  the  sofa — upon  one  end  of  it,  leaving 
ample  room  for  him  to  come  and  surrender  and  con 
sole  ;  but  he  never  moved.  He  waited  sternly  until 
she  had  ceased  her  sobs  and  peeped  up  over  the 
handkerchief  to  note  their  effect,  wondering  at  his 
silence. 

l<  I  have  no  time  for  further  words  now.  I  go  at 
once  to  join  the  regiment,  wherever  it  is.  Surely  those 
despatches  contain  some  instructions.  What  have  you 
done  with  them  ?" 

"  I  haven't  them,  Gerald.  I  read  them,  and  when 
you  wired  that  you  were  coming  at  once,  I  supposed 
others  had  reached  you.  You  didn't  say  you  had 
recovered  the  letters.  You " 

"  I  said  exactly  what  we  agreed  I  should  say  if  suc 
cessful  in  that  quest.  I  got  the  letters  a  week  ago. 
It  was  other  matters  that  kept  me  there.  I  was  on  the 
track  of  that  man  Brooks,  and  I  believe  that  I  could 
have  jailed  him  ;  but  it's  too  late  now.  Where  are 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  345 

my  despatches  ?  In  God's  name  get  them.  You  have 
done  harm  enough." 

"  I  thought  there  was  no  further  use  of  them,  and — 
I  burned  them,  Gerald.  Indeed,  indeed,  I  meant  no 
wrong.'7 

One  moment,  just  one  moment  more  he  stood  there 
quivering,  his  face  ashen  in  its  pallor,  then,  with  sud 
den  turn,  he  sprang  to  the  door,  out  to  the  hall,  out 
into  the  sunshine  of  the  open  street.  "  To  the  Western 
Union  office,  quick,"  she  heard  him  order  his  driver,  as 
he  jumped  into  the  cab  that  stood  at  the  curb,  and  away 
sped  the  team,  she  peering  at  them  from  the  parlor 
window. 

But  when  the  cab  whirled  around  the  corner  and 
disappeared  from  sight,  she  bent  and  picked  up  from 
the  floor  the  precious  packet  of  letters,  wiped  the  tears 
from  her  eyes,  broke  the  seals  and  strings,  turned  the 
contents  over  with  rapid,  though  trembling  fingers. 
She  had  verified  them  before  she  ran  up-stairs  to  Mrs. 
Morris,  for  that  lady  said  so  long  afterwards, — after 
they,  too,  had  parted ;  but  that,  as  Kipling  says,  is 
another  story. 

When  a  woman  knows  herself  to  be  very  much  to 
blame,  it  is  not  an  unusual  device  to  appear  very  much 
aggrieved  and  to  attempt  to  put  the  other  party  on  the 
defensive  and  in  the  wrong.  Especially  is  this  the 
case  with  a  woman  of  Mrs.  Granger's  stamp.  At 
such  times  she  retires  to  a  semi-seclusion,  and  suffers 
and  writes  pathetic  notes  reciting  her  wrongs,  and 
attempts  to  extort  an  explanation  from  the  person 
really  aggrieved,  instead  of  hastening  to  make  amends 
herself.  I  have  even  known  one  or  two  persons  re- 


346  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

ferred  to  in  society  as  men,  to  do  pretty  much  the  same 
thing.  Mrs.  Granger,  in  pursuance  of  this  policy,  wrote 
reproachfully  to  Blake.  What  she  intended  to  do  was 
to  fetch  him  back  to  her  feet  again,  humble  and  peni 
tent.  That  she  had  done  him  bitter  wrong  was  some 
thing  she  could  not  for  an  instant  admit.  Of  course, 
if  he  got  those  messages  he  would  be  stupid  enough  to 
feel  called  upon  to  throw  up  any  other  avocation  and 
make  a  dash  for  that  very  much  over-rated  corps,  the 
— th,  and  just  now  she  had  urgent  need  of  his  services. 
He  perhaps  could  get  those  letters  back  and  possibly 
silence  her  anonymous  persecutors,  some  of  them,  at 
all  events,  if  nobody  else  could.  There  were  others  of 
whom  she  had  never  yet  spoken  to  Blake.  The  death 
of  Grimsby  was  a  matter  of  boundless  relief  to  her. 
There  would  come  no  more  demands  from  him  for 
hush-money.  If  only  she  could  feel  sure  he  had  not 
told  all  he  knew  to  that  venomous  girl  Annie, — Annie, 
whom  Mrs.  Morris  declared  to  be  even  now  in  service 
out  at  the  fort,  where  people  were  ready  to  believe  any 
ill  of  her  widowed  and  desolate  self.  She  had  no  hope 
of  Blake's  hearing  anything  of  the  whereabouts  of  the 
scoundrel  whom  of  all  others  she  most  feared, — that 
fellow  Brooks,  who  knew  the  secret  of  her  husband's 
peculations  in  the  past  and  other  matters,  and  who,  if  her 
bribes  were  discontinued,  might  tell  the  whole  story  and 
present  the  proofs  that  would  rob  her  of  more  than 
half  the  worldly  goods  with  which  the  major  had  en 
dowed  her.  She  needed  it  all  so  very  much  more  than 
the  government.  She  did  not  know  that  Blake  had 
succeeded  in  securing  an  interview  with  that  very  party. 
The  hush-money,  which  had  been-  systematically  paid 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  347 

during  the  major's  life,  she  would  gladly  continue,  pro 
vided  it  would  ensure  silence  :  but  the  gang,  or  what 
ever  it  was,  had  trebled,  quadrupled  the  demands  and 
threatened  her  personally  with  direful  exposures  if 
denied.  Brooks,  she  knew,  would  keep  out  of  the  way, 
but  his  associates  in  crime  might  not  be  easily  placated, 
and  Gerald,  being  hot-tempered,  might  perchance  put 
one  or  two  of  them  out  of  the  way.  They,  perhaps, 
might  put  an  end  to  him, — a  tragic  possibility,  but  one 
she  seldom  allowed  herself  to  contemplate.  Still,  if 
worst  came  to  the  worst,  was  it  not  better  that  he  should 
die  in  her  service  than  in  that  of  an  ungrateful  republic  ? 
Mrs.  Granger,  it  must  be  confessed,  thought  so. 

He  had  been  successful,  then,  in  so  far  as  the  recovery 
of  her  letters  was  concerned,  but  she  needed  to  know 
much  more,  and  he  had  gone  without  telling  her  how 
he  had  obtained  the  packet,  whom  he  had  seen,  or  what 
she  might  expect  from  Brooks  in  the  future.  It  re 
doubled  her  desire  to  hear  from  Blake,  and  the  reproach 
and  protestation  in  her  letters  was  indeed  pathetic. 
But  a  fortnight  passed ;  no  answer  came ;  Mrs.  Morris 
went  home  to  Cheyenne  and  wrote  that  Mr.  Blake  was 
ill  at  some  obscure  point  far  up  in  the  Wind  River 
Valley  ;  two  weeks  later  that  he  had  returned  to  Russell 
and  the  — th  was  coming  home.  Then  Mrs.  Granger 
wrote  again.  She  implored  him  to  come  to  her,  if  only 
for  an  hour.  She  had  no  excuse  for  longer  stay  at  the 
Lawrences.  She  must  return  to  the  East.  She  could 
not  go  without  one  kind  word  from  him.  Her  heart 
was  breaking  at  the  thought  of  his  anger  and  injustice, 
and  of  all  the  troubles  in  which  she  was  involved,  and 
she  no  longer  had  him  to  help  and  sustain  her.  Other 


348  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

demands  had  been  coming  in.  More  money  was  the 
cry,  and  she  dare  not  tell  Judge  Lawrence,  for  fear  that 
he  would  insist  on  legal  process.  She  even  humbled 
herself  and  said  that  she  was  beginning  to  hear  some 
thing  of  the  troubles  in  which  he  was  involved,  and 
for  which  she  feared  that  in  her  blind  misery  she  had 
been  much  to  blame.  She  was  beginning  to  see  it  all 
now.  Would  he  not  come  to  her?  forgive  her,  and 
let  her  love,  her  undying  devotion  make  amends  for 
the  sorrows  of  the  past?  Judge  Lawrence  had  been 
to  see  Colonel  Rand,  and  had  extracted  from  him  the 
acknowledgment  that  no  case  could  be  made  by  the 
government  against  the  estate  of  Major  Granger,  except 
for  a  few  trivial  amounts  which  she  would  be  only  too 
glad  to  pay.  She  would  sell  out  all  the  western  prop 
erty  at  once.  She  would  be  independent,  could  live 
abroad,  anywhere  away  from  the  horrible,  haunting 
scenes  of  her  life  with  that  cold  and  cruel  man.  She 
was  ready  to  brave  the  opinion  of  the  world,  and  be 
her  Gerald's  wife  and  go  with  him  to  the  end  of  crea 
tion  ;  but  not  to  face  the  coterie  around  Cheyenne. 
Why  could  he  not  cut  loose,  once  and  for  all,  from  the 
hollow,  heartless,  soulless  associates  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded,  by  whom  he  was  never  appreciated,  by 
whom  she  heard  he  was  even  now  coldly  treated.  Her 
heart  raged  with  indignation  at  the  idea  of  those  men 
and  women  at  Russell  daring  to  sit  in  judgment  on 
him,  her  hero,  her  defender,  her  noble  Gerald.  "I 
must  leave  here  within  the  week,"  she  wrote,  "  so  answer 
me,  Gerald,  if  only  a  single  line." 

And  so  the  line  was  sent,  and  with   it  by  express  a 
little  packet  with  her  recent  letters. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  349 

The  days  later  came  stirring  news.  The  Indians  in 
the  valley  of  the  Porcupine,  two  hundred  miles  away, 
had  risen  against  their  agent.  He  begged  for  troops 
at  once.  The  guard  of  infantry  could  protect  him,  but 
would  be  powerless  to  arrest  the  leaders  of  the  outbreak. 
Two  troops  from  Russell  must  go  at  once,  said  the 
orders ;  and  so  a  biting  winter  expedition  was  before 
them,  with  every  probability  of  sharp  battle  as  addi 
tional  incident.  Even  as  people  at  the  post  were  de 
ploring  the  corning  of  the  order  and  wondering  who 
would  have  to  go,  Mrs.  Turner  came  tearing  out  from 
town  with  the  tidings  which  dwarfed  in"  her  mind  the 
news  of  further  field  duty, — Mrs.  Granger  was  com 
ing  up  from  Denver  to  spend  a  few  days  with  Mrs. 
Morris,  "  on  account  of  important  business,"  before  re 
turning  to  the  East. 

Within  ten  minutes  of  the  time  the  orders  came 
everybody  seemed  to  know  that  Gregg's  troop  stood 
first  for  detached  service  on  the  roster,  and  would 
probably  have  to  go ;  and  Gregg's  face  was  very  grave 
as  he  walked  homeward  from  the  office.  Many  knew 
that  before  long  the  resounding  knocker  on  Gregg's  front 
door  would  be  entitled  to  its  muffling  knot  of  white 
ribbon,  and  that  it  would  be  hard  news  indeed,  now,  for 
Mrs.  Gregg,  if  the  captain  were  compelled  to  leave  her. 

Blake,  coming  over  from  his  company  quarters  all 
alone,  as  he  preferred  to  be  of  late,  changed  color  when 
Clark  told  him  the  news  of  the  emeute.  Instantly, 
however,  with  kindling  eye  and  quick  step,  he  started 
to  head  off  Gregg,  who  had  almost  reached  his  home. 

"  They  say  it's  your  troop,  Gregg.  It  won't  be  if 
I  can  help  it.  I  want  to  go.'' 

80 


350  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

The  colonel  was  already  in  his  office,  and  thither 
hastened  Blake.  Before  sunset  the  orders  were  issued. 
Before  sunrise  the  little  detachment  was  on  its  way, 
Blake  riding  at  the  head  of  Freeman's  troop.  And 
everybody  knew  that  he  had  begged  to  go  in  place  of 
old  Gregg,  and  all  at  Russell  rejoiced,  not  that  he  had 
gone  from  them,  but  from  her.  No  one  dreamed  how 
many  moons  it  would  be  before  Gerald  Blake  came 
back  to  them  again. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  351 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

AGAIN  the  snow-clouds  hovered  over  the  bleak  and 
barren  hill-sides;  the  little  tufts  of  buffalo-grass  shiv 
ered  in  the  biting  wind ;  the  sentries  turned  out  in 
their  winter  overcoats  and  fur  gauntlets,  and  the  broad 
surface  of  the  parade,  with  the  bordering  road-way, 
was  hard  and  solid  as  the  bed-rock  far  beneath.  Again 
the  monotonous  routine  of  garrison  life,  unchanging, 
uneventful,  yet  not  always  placid,  had  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  the  — th. 

"  People  are  stupid  at  Russell  this  year,"  said  a  certain 
fair  Cheyennese ;  "  you  ought  to  have  been  here  last 
season  when  we  had  hops  and  germans  and  theatricals. 
There  was  such  a  charming  set  at  the  fort  then ;  but 
it  has  all  broken  up.  The  colonel's  in  mourning,  the 
Freemans  and  Truscotts  and  Stannards  are  gone,  Mr. 
Ray  is  married,  so  of  course  he  is  more  than  gone,  Mr. 
Blake  is  off  at  some  awful  cantonment  among  the 
Indians,  and  Mr.  Hollis,  who  used  to  be  the  very  life 
of  our  society,  doesn't  go  anywhere.  We  invited  him 
to  Thanksgiving  dinner,  but  he  wouldn't  come.  He 
said  he  was  on  guard,  but  we  heard  later  that  it  wasn't 
his  detail  at  all, — he  exchanged  tours  with  somebody 
else.  A  year  ago  he  was  always  getting  up  dances  and 
calling  on  everybody  here  in  town  ;  now  he  never  comes 
in  at  all."  The  lady  thought  it  was  very  strange, — 


352  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

that  is,  she  said  she  thought  so ;  but  perhaps  all  this 
was  simply  to  extract  an  opinion  from  Mrs.  Morris, 
who  was  present.  Down  in  the  depths  of  her  con 
sciousness  the  speaker  felt  well  assured  of  the  cause  of 
Tommy  Hollis's  temporary  retirement  from  metropoli 
tan  society.  Thanksgiving  day  had  come  and  gone ; 
Mrs.  Granger  had  come  and  stayed. 

Whatsoever  might  have  been  the  important  business 
that  brought  her  once  more  to  the  scene  of  her  social 
triumphs  and  domestic  sorrows,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  she  succeeded  in  baffling  the  good  people,  both  in 
or  out  of  the  army,  who  were  sufficiently  interested  in 
her  movements  to  speculate  as  to  the  motives.  Those 
who  scouted  the  explanation  of  business  and  declared 
she  had  come  to  recapture  Blake,  and  would  go  now 
that  he  was  settled  beyond  her  reach,  were  silenced  by 
the  fact  that,  instead  of  going,  she  sent  for  certain 
trunks  that  had  been  checked  through  and  proceeded 
to  unpack  them  and  make  herself  at  home  at  the 
Morrises.  Then  it  transpired  that  Morris  brought  a 
distinguished  lawyer  to  call  upon  the  lovely  widow, 
and  they  had  a  long,  long  consultation.  Then  the 
lawyer  got  to  coming  without  Morris,  but  evidently 
with  his  knowledge  and  approval.  The  legal  luminary 
was  a  widower,  a  man  prominent  in  political  affairs 
and  eminent  in  his  profession.  It  began  to  be  rumored 
that  certain  knotty  questions  regarding  Granger's  title 
to  valuable  property  were  being  unravelled  by  this 
gentleman  with  a  celerity  and  dash  that  put  Judge 
Lawrence's  more  conservative  methods  in  the  shade. 
Then  Morris,  the  banker,  rubbed  his  hands  and 
chuckled  when  people  sounded  him  as  to  the  widow's 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  353 

financial  hopes  and  prospects,  but  would  say  nothing 
definite,  yet  looked  untold  thousands.  Week  after 
week  the  fair  subject  of  all  this  engrossing  talk  lin 
gered  under  the  banker's  hospitable  roof,  and  Mrs. 
Morris  revelled  in  the  enhanced  interest  of  her  own 
social  position.  Of  course  the  ladies  from  Kussell 
came  and  called.  Of  course  all  society  people  in 
Cheyenne  did  likewise,  and  the  manner  of  Mrs. 
Granger  to  one  and  all  whom  she  received  was  simply 
charming,  "  so  gentle  and  so  sweet,  so  pathetic,  yet  in 
no  wise  intrusive  about  her  troubles."  The  new  rector 
of  the  little  parish  was  presently  warmly  interested  in 
her.  Such  patience  and  resignation  in  her  deep  afflic 
tion  was  something  positively  edifying.  The  rector's 
young  wife  thought  with  him,  for  the  first  month,  at 
least,  and  fought  with  him  the  next. 

"  If  that  woman  is  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
Christmas-tree,  I  simply  want  nothing  to  do  with  it," 
was  the  spirited  ultimatum  laid  down,  and  by  this 
time  the  little  lady  had  many  sympathizers.  There  is 
only  one  social  position  harder  to  fill  than  that  of  a 
minister's  wife.  The  woman  who  can  succeed  in  pleas 
ing  everybody  as  "the  lady  of  the  commanding  officer'' 
in  a  bustling  garrison  could  charm  the  most  discordant 
parish  that  ever  squabbled. 

Mrs.  Granger  was  a  regular  attendant  at  every  ser 
vice  from  the  day  of  her  arrival.  Her  lovely  face 
under  the  widow's  cap  attracted  instantly  the  attention 
of  the  brilliant  young  churchman  who  had  chosen  the 
far  frontier  for  his  earliest  efforts,  who  was  of  a  family 
distinguished  and  wealthy,  who  had  means  and  ability 
both,  yet  had  gladly  taken  the  little  parish  where 
x  30* 


354  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

lambs  were  few  and  the  black  sheep  swarmed  in  every 
fold,  eager  to  try  his  metal  against  the  devil  and  all 
his  works  as  exemplified  in  a  wild  Western  town, 
where  he  was  told  he  would  have  hardly  anything  to 
deal  with  but  sinners,  scoffers,  and  soldiers.  Fore 
warned,  forearmed,  he  had  come  to  fight  the  good  fight, 
a  Christian  warrior  proud  to  battle  for  the  banner  of 
the  cross  ;  thirsting  to  measure  steel  with  the  destroyer ; 
burning  for  opportunity  to  grapple  with  the  henchmen 
of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  wheresoever  found. 
Cheery,  kindly,  full  of  high  courage,  he  explored  the 
streets  and  the  market-places  and  the  stalls  of  the 
money-changers,  looking  every  man  in  the  eye ;  ready 
with  outstretched  hand  and  cordial  word  to  help  the 
helpless ;  ready  to  kneel  at  the  side  of  the  brawling 
sinner,  dying  with  boots  on  his  feet  and  curses  on  his 
lips ;  eager  to  shield  and  succor  the  fatherless  and 
widow  ;  to  give  up  his  own  substance  and  beg  of  the 
bounty  of  others  for  the  sake  of  the  hungering  little 
ones,  bereaved  and  destitute ;  daring  to  face  disease 
and  pestilence  that  he  might  bear  the  word  of  God 
and  the  gifts  of  men  to  the  sorely  stricken  ;  shunning 
no  danger,  dreading  no  sneer,  facing  the  foe  with  a 
heart  brave,  buoyant,  and  enthusiastic ;  winning,  despite 
their  sullen  selves,  the  respect  and  confidence  of  hard 
ened  men,  winning  welcome  and  smiles  in  faces  long 
set  to  sneer,  winning  the  love  and  trust  of  little  chil 
dren  who  clung  to  him  on  his  way,  clamoring  for  a 
romp  or  a  story.  In  three  months  from  the  time  he 
came  the  little  parish  church  would  not  begin  to  hold 
the  throngs  that  gathered  to  hear  him  tell  the  old, 
sweet  story.  Rough  men  touched  their  battered  hats 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  355 

when  they  met  him  on  his  daily  rounds.  Reckless 
women  hushed  their  shrill  laughter  and  hid  their 
painted  cheeks  when  the  rector  passed  them  by.  Rois 
tering  groups,  clustering  at  the  saloon  doors,  gulped 
down  their  ribald  basphemy  at  his  approach,  and  many 
a  fierce  brawl  was  nipped  in  the  bud  at  the  mere 
whisper,  "  The  parson's  coming."  Professional  and 
business  men  who  had  long  since  ceased  to  think  of 
church  as  a  portion  of  their  Sunday  lives,  went  home 
week  after  week  wondering  over  the  strength  and 
sweetness  in  the  young  churchman's  words,  and  doubling 
their  contributions  to  the  parish  funds.  Jim  McManus, 
half-owner  of  the  Alhambra,  and  once  a  terror  in  the 
town,  was  known  to  have  given  the  lot  whereon  now 
stood  the  Sunday-school  and  chapel.  It  was  an  edify 
ing  sight  to  see  Jim,  with  an  enormous  cluster  diamond 
breastpin  in  the  snowy  bosom  of  a  "  boiled  shirt," 
slinking  into  the  rearmost  pew  on  Thanksgiving  night 
when  the  children  had  their  song  service.  Perhaps 
no  one  but  the  rector  knew  how  that  gambler's  heart 
was  bound  up  in  two  motherless  little  girls  who  sang 
like  cherubs  at  the  altar,  and  on  whose  hitherto 
neglected  heads  the  minister's  white  hands  lingered  as 
fondly  as  on  that  of  the  judge's  only  child.  All  the 
town  could  tell  of  the  patience,  the  courage,  the  faith, 
the  goodness  of  this  young  soldier's  work,  of  the  force 
and  pathos  of  his  pleadings.  He  was  the  man  of  men 
in  the  frontier  community,  the  observed  of  all  ob 
servers,  the  honored  of  his  kind,  the  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  the  women.  Strong,  spotless,  pure  in 
heart,  stanch  in  purpose,  thrice  armed  in  the  justice 
of  his  cause  against  all  the  works  of  darkness,  rejoic- 


356  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

ing  in  his  success,  humbly  and  earnestly  grateful  to 
the  God  who  had  granted  him  the  victory  over  so 
many  foes,  ever  seeking  on  every  side  some  new  emis 
sary  of  the  flesh  and  the  devil  to  dare  and  down,  he 
found  it  where  last  he  looked  for  such  a  tiling, — in 
the  angelic  face  that  gazed  up  at  him  with  swimming 
eyes  Sunday  after  Sunday  from  beneath  that  widow's 
cap. 

His  wife  had  called  and  was  fascinated.  "  She  is  so 
lovely  in  her  bereavement,"  said  the  little  lady,  who  as 
yet  knew  naught  of  the  blissful  particulars  of  that  inner 
life  at  the  depot,  "and  the  tears  stood  in  her  eyes  when 
she  told  me  how  your  sermon  last  Sunday  had  helped 
her."  The  rector's  wife  called  twice  again  before  he 
himself  had  time  to  go,  and  she  was  simply  daft  in 
her  enthusiasm  for  this  new-found  friend  before 
ever  he  knew  her  at  all.  Then  it  transpired  that  her 
sorrows,  the  sad  trials  of  her  life,  had  conspired  to 
undermine  the  childlike  faith  that  had  once  been  hers. 
She  wanted  to  believe, — ah,  heaven  !  she  longed  to 
believe  there  was  balm  in  Gilead,  there  was  indeed  a 
pitying,  loving  Saviour  in  whom  peace  and  rest  might 
be  found  forever.  She  needed  so  much, — so  much  a 
strong  soul  to  lean  on,  a  guide  to  follow,  a  teacher  to 
inspire.  All  that  had  been  denied  her  in  the  unhappy 
past  of  which  she  so  shrank  from  speaking.  For  a 
fortnight  the  rector  and  his  wife  were  equally  fer 
vently  interested  in  the  work  of  snatching  this  fair 
brand  from  the  burning;  then  as  his  augmented, 
the  lady's  ardor  began  to  cool,  and  in  December, 
Mr.  Hughes  found,  most  unaccountably,  that  he  was 
going  it  alone.  Yes,  Mrs.  Hughes  admitted  she  had 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  357 

urged  him  to  devote  some  time  and  attention  to  her 
new  and  fascinating  friend.  But,  she  concluded  with 
feminine  inconsequence,  she  never  meant  that  he  should 
devote  all.  Hughes  well  knew  by  this  time  that  it 
was  to  her  and  for  her,  this  fair  widow,  that  he  was 
preaching  every  Sunday,  and  that  never  for  an  instant 
did  that  sweet,  serious  face  falter  in  its  absorbed 
upward  gaze,  even  when  the  lovely  eyes,  as  was  some 
times  the  case,  became  humid  with  tears.  But  he 
never  realized  the  extent  of  his  danger  until  there 
came  a  Sunday  in  December  when  her  place  was 
vacant.  Neither  she  nor  Mrs.  Morris  came  to  church, 
and,  to  his  dismay,  the  rector  found  his  thoughts  wan 
dered  from  the  beauty  of  the  sacred  service  and  flut 
tered,  on  the  wings  of  heaven  knows  what  sentimental 
fancy,  to  her  wherever  she  might  be,  and  far  away, — 
far  away  from  the  God  whom  he  adored. 

There  were  already  many  stanch  adherents  of  the 
young  rector  out  at  the  fort.  He  had  begun  his  min 
istrations  in  the  early  summer  after  the  battalion  had 
gone  to  the  Big  Horn,  and  when  the  post  was  compara 
tively  deserted  ;  but  he  was  in  the  heyday  of  his  prime 
and  popularity  on  their  return,  and  presently  it  got  to 
be  the  thing  for  many  of  the  officers  and  most  of  the 
ladies  to  go  in  every  Sunday  to  attend  service  at  St. 
Paul's.  Men  and  women,  they  too  felt  the  power  of 
his  discourse  and  recognized  the  depth  of  his  faith 
and  hope  and  charity.  The  Athertons  became  deeply 
interested  in  the  church  work,  the  Heaths  and  Ray 
monds  were  devoted  members  of  the  fold.  Mrs.  Turner 
was  piety  personified  when  it  became  cold  enough  to 
wear  her  sealskin  cloak, — the  only  one  in  garrison, 


358  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

though  a  sacque  or  two  could  sometimes  be  seen 
That  cloak  had  cost  Turner  many  a  sleepless  night 
and  all  his  Arizona  savings.  The  Waldrons  never 
missed  a  Sunday  when  it  did  not  storm,  and  every  one 
became  devoted  to  Mr.  Hughes,  fond  of  Mrs.  Hughes, 
and  duly  and  properly  scandalized  when  it  dawned 
upon  all  church-going  Russell  that  Mrs.  Granger, 
bereft  of  the  husband  and  lovers  she  once  owned  in 
the  army,  was  now  setting  her  widow's  cap  to  fascinate 
this  brave  and  gifted  soldier  of  the  church  militant, — 
and  he  a  married  man.  It  was  then  that  the  ladies 
thought  it  time  to  tell  Mrs.  Hughes  the  widow's  story, 
and  Mrs.  Hughes  lost  no  time  in  transmitting  it  to 
her  lord ;  but  it  was  all  unavailing, — Mrs.  Granger 
had  told  her  story  herself,  and  a  far  more  pathetic  and 
touching  recital  it  was  than  that  with  which  her  ene 
mies  would  have  compassed  her  round  about  while  her 
friends  and  lovers  stood  afar  off.  Mr.  Hughes  knew 
there  must  be  a  mistake.  She  had  been  thoughtless, 
unsuspecting,  betrayed  by  injudicious  friends,  per 
haps,  but  designing  ?  Oh,  no,  no !  that  were  im 
possible. 

Mrs.  Morris  came  to  Sunday-school  that  afternoon, 
and  then  the  rector  learned  the  cause  of  Mrs.  Granger's 
absence  from  divine  service  that  lovely,  bracing  wintry 
morn.  She  was  seriously  ill  and  unnerved.  A  most 
distressing  thing  had  happened  the  previous  evening. 
Mr.  Morris  and  herself  had  gone  to  attend  a  little 
sociable  in  the  neighborhood  and  Mrs.  Granger  had 
remained  at  home,  protesting  that  she  would  be  any 
thing  but  lonely.  She  expected  visitors  from  the  fort, 
she  said,  and  here  the  rector  reddened  with  the  con- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  359 

sciousuess  that  no  visitors  came  from  the  fort  or  else 
where  during  the  half-hour  he  had  spent  at  her  side 
until  compelled  to  go  about  other  matters.  Just  before 
ten  o'clock,  and  after  he  had  gone,  there  came  a  ring 
at  the  bell,  and  the  servant  admitted  a  tall  gentleman, 
she  said,  in  a  military  overcoat,  who  decided  that  he 
would  not  send  his  card  up.  "  Tell  Mrs.  Granger  an 
old  friend  is  in  the  parlor,"  were  his  directions,  and 
Mrs.  Granger  had  presently  descended,  full  of  pleasant 
anticipation,  no  doubt,  and  there  found,  she  said,  an  entire 
stranger,  who  gravely  told  her  that  he  brought  a  letter 
of  introduction,  and,  with  an  insolent  smile,  handed 
her  an  abusive  and  outrageous  letter  from  a  bitter 
enemy  of  her  husband.  It  was  a  demand  for  money, 
a  large  sum,  and  coupled  with  threats  that  she  would 
be  brought  to  ruin  if  it  were  not  paid.  She  ordered 
the  man  to  leave  the  house,  and  he  laughed  at  her. 
She  called  for  help,  and  the  maid-servant  was  afraid 
to  go.  She  strove  to  run  to  the  front  door  to  call,  but 
he  interposed  and  fairly  dragged  her  back  into  the 
parlor.  Then  she  had  fainted  from  fright  and  distress, 
and  when  she  came  to,  the  terrified  servant  was  with 
her  and  the  man  and  letter  gone.  Such  was  Mrs. 
Morris's  recital. 

Hughes  went  around  with  Mrs.  Morris  to  see  her 
after  Sunday-school,  and  Mrs.  Hughes,  with  compressed 
lips,  walked  home  alone.  Mrs.  Granger  was  re 
clining  on  the  lounge  in  her  own  room,  lovely  in  her 
dainty  wrapper  and  in  the  pathetic  pallor  of  her 
face. 

"  It  is  so,  so  good  of  you  to  come  to  me,  my  friend," 
she  murmured,  extending  to  him  the  soft  white  hand. 


360  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Mrs.  Granger's  way  of  holding  forth  her  hand  to  the 
men  whom  she  was  desirous  of  fascinating  or  whom 
she  had  already  enmeshed  was  something  suggestive. 
It  so  differed  from  the  way  in  which  it  was  ex 
tended  to  a  woman.  She  stretched  forth  her  arm  to 
its  full  length,  the  white  hand  drooping  from  the 
slender  wrist,  yet  uplifted  high,  for  all  the  world  as 
though  to  say  "  Take  me  to  your  lips."  But  Hughes 
read  no  such  invitation.  His  warning  had  come  as  he 
stood  in  the  face  of  God  and  his  congregation  that 
very  day.  He  had  come  only  to  comfort  and  advise. 
His  face  was  well-nigh  as  white  as  her's,  for  he  had 
been  looking  squarely  at  his  sin.  He  had  come  to  get  a 
complete  description  of  her  visitor,  that  he  might  set  the 
detectives  on  his  track.  But  her  account  of  him  and  that 
given  by  the  servant  were  decidedly  conflicting.  What 
was  more,  she  upbraided  Mrs.  Morris  for  speaking  of 
it.  She  begged  that  Mr.  Hughes  should  take  no  steps. 
She  refused  to  send  for  and  consult  her  lawyer.  She 
had  been  frightened  ;  she  was  nervous  and  unstrung, 
she  said ;  but  the  rascal  was  gone,  gone  far  away  she 
felt  sure,  baffled  in  his  hopes  of  extracting  money,  and 
would  probably  never  trouble  her  again.  A  day  or 
two  would  make  her  perfectly  well,  she  said,  smiling 
up  into  his  eyes  with  sweet,  sweet  sadness  and  again 
holding  forth  her  hand.  "But  please,  please  say  no 
more,  say  nothing  about  it;  I  wish  to  forget  it 
utterly." 

Yet  late  that  Sunday  night  the  lamps  burned  in  her 
room,  as  watchful  eyes  could  see,  and  the  very  next 
day  Lieutenant  Hollis,  with  trembling  fingers  and  a 
strange,  puzzled  look  in  his  face,  received  a  letter  by 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  361 

mail.     He  knew  the   superscription  at  once.      It  was 
brief,  but  it  stirred  him  to  his  very  soul. 

"  If  ever  I  needed  your  strong  arm  I  need  it  now. 
Distress,  even  danger,  is  about  me  on  every  side.  In 
all  this  world  I  have  no  one  to  turn  to  but  you.  Come 
to  me  for  God's  sake ! 

"MADELEINE  G." 


81 


362  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTEK  XXV. 

EVENTS  came  crowding  thickly  as  the  holidays 
drew  nigh.  Mrs.  Granger  was  looking  paler  than 
before  and  more  pathetic.  "  She  had  much  to  worry 
her,"  explained  Mrs.  Morris,  whose  sympathy  was 
voluble.  "She  has  been  utterly  misjudged  and 
wronged.  People  at  the  fort  were  bad  enough,  but 
we  expected  it  of  them  where  the  women  were  all 
jealous  of  her;  but  I  never  thought  that  my  friends 
here  in  town  would  be  so  ready  to  turn  upon  her,  as 
it  seems  they  are.  What  has  she  done  ?  Was  there 
anything  strange  in  that  a  man  so  intellectual  and 
grand  as  Mr.  Hughes  should  be  glad  of  frequent 
opportunity  to  meet  and  commune  with  a  woman  so 
gifted  as  Mrs.  Granger?  Was  it  strange  that  she,  a 
woman  who  has  been  through  such  suffering  and  sor 
row,  whose  faith  was  ebbing  away,  should  eagerly 
grasp  the  outstretched  hand  of  a  man  so  inspired  as 
our  new  rector  ?  Was  it  not  only  natural,  but  per 
fectly  right  and  proper,  that  she  should  welcome  the 
frequent  visits  of  her  spiritual  pastor  and  master  ? 
Would  anything  have  been  thought  of  it  had  not  Mrs. 
Hughes  been  so  young,  so  foolish,  so  jealous ;  and  had 
not  designing  women,  who  wanted  to  stir  up  trouble, 
gone  to  her  with  cruel  stories  and  wormed  her  own 
confidences  out  of  her  and  made  false  deductions  from 
what  she  said,  and  spread  abroad  scandalous  reports 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  363 

she  never  for  an  instant  would  have  authorized  ?" 
The  fact  that  Mr.  Hughes  had  visited  Mrs.  Granger 
and  administered  spiritual  consolation  on  three  or  four 
occasions  when  Mrs.  Hughes  believed  him  to  be  pay 
ing  parochial  calls  on  parties  far  less  attractive,  and 
that  she  learned  the  truth  from  other  lips  than  those 
of  her  husband,  had  led  to  a  storm  of  tears  and  re 
proaches  on  the  little  woman's  part ;  and,  though  he 
gravely  and  gently  reproved  her  and  told  her  that  she 
wronged  him  by  her  suspicion,  the  rector  could  not 
improve  her  opinion  of  Mrs.  Granger,  and  could  not 
justify  the  concealment  to  himself.  It  was  true  that 
he  had  been  to  see  the  other  parties,  and  had  only  spent 
a  few  moments  in  serious  but  semi-confidential  talk 
with  the  fairest  lamb  of  his  flock, — a  lamb  who  was 
quite  as  old  as  he,  but  had  by  no  means  ceased  to  skip. 
It  was  true  that  of  late  he  had  been  too  absorbed  and 
occupied  to  tell  his  wife  of  all  his  troubles  and  doings 
and  visits  in  the  glad,  buoyant  way  in  which  he  had 
begun  during  the  earlier  days  of  their  married  life. 
She  was  only  a  sweet-natured,  simple-hearted,  pure- 
minded  girl  who  loved  him  devotedly  and  utterly,  and 
wanted  to  be  loved  as  absorbingly,  even  though  she  was 
not  his  intellectual  equal  by  any  means.  It  was  true 
that  he  shrank  from  telling  her  of  his  visits  to  Mrs. 
Granger,  because  she  was  unreasonably  and  absurdly 
jealous  of  her  and  most  unjustly  suspicious  of  his 
motives.  It  was  enough  for  him  that  he  was  pure  of 
purpose,  and  that  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  in  one 
person,  stood  sorely  in  need  of  his  ministrations.  But 
now  the  matter  had  assumed  proportions  which  were 
becoming  alarming. 


364  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"Everybody  is  talking  about  it,"  sobbed  Mrs. 
Hughes,  with  pathetic  and  perhaps  pardonable  exagger 
ation.  "  She  makes  trouble  everywhere  she  goes  and 
always  in  this  way.  You're  a  man  whom  everybody 
wants  to  know, — everybody  admires  and  respects  and 
looks  up  to,  and  she  just  craves  your  attention  because 
it  flatters  her  vanity  and  makes  people  talk  and  makes 
other  people  envious  of  her.  I  d-d-don't  believe  a 
word  about  her  needing  your  advice  a-a-and  help  and 
prayers  at  all ;  that's  only  her  way  of  luring  you  on 
and  making  people  see  you  are  d-d -d -devoted  to  her." 

In  vain  Hughes  chided,  soothed,  pointed  out  to  her 
how  uncharitable  it  all  was.  Mrs.  Hughes  was  not 
particularly  brilliant,  as  had  been  said  of  her,  but  she 
was  determined,  and,  whatsoever  the  men  might  think, 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  most  of  the  women  were  so 
prejudiced  as  to  side  with  the  minister's  bonny  little 
wife  against  the  major's  beautiful  widow.  Many  were 
already  giving  the  latter  the  cold  shoulder,  and  Mrs. 
Morris  was  not  difficult  as  a  means  of  filtering  infor 
mation.  Mrs.  Granger  soon  heard  all  about  it.  Need 
less  to  say  she  suspected  it  before. 

"  I  think,  if  you  won't  mind,  dear  Mr.  Hughes,  that 
I  will  retire  from  the  Christmas-tree  committee,"  she 
said  to  him  that  night,  with  downcast  eyes.  "  Straws 
show  which  way  the  wind  blows,  and  all  sorts  of  little 
straws  have  blown  my  way  lately.  It — it  isn't  that 
I  lack  interest ;  but  I  cannot  consent  to  be  in  any  one's 
way.  I  will  not  involve  you,  who  have  been  so  kind 
when  most  I  needed  kindness,  in  perplexity  or  trouble. 
Don't  ask  me  to  tell  you  what  I  know,"  she  said,  look 
ing  up  with  the  sweet,  sad  smile, — that  tearful  smile 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  365 

that  so  distracted  the  souls  of  men, — "  but  I  know  I 
am  right.     I  know  it  will  be  for  the  best." 

"  Mrs.  Granger  !"  he  burst  in,  with  unusual  impetu 
osity,  "  indeed  I  cannot  consent "  But  she  held  forth 

her  lily-white  hands — both  hands — and  checked  him. 

"  No,  no,  dear  friend.  Let  us  not  blame  nor  censure 
nor  bring  further  trouble.  I  am  not  angry.  I  think 
perhaps  had  I  been  reared  as  most  of  these  that  I  too 
should  have  been  narrow  and  easily  moved  to  think  ill 
of  my  kind.  I  feel  no  rancor  whatever,  despite  the 
hard  things  some — some  women  have  said  who  knew 
me,  I  once  fondly  hoped,  far  better.77 

"  Who  have  spoken  ill  of  you  ?  Of  what  have  they 
accused  you  ?"  he  demanded. 

"  Hush  !"  She  raised  her  finger  with  a  half-playful 
gesture  as  though  with  that  tapering  digit  she  would 
close  his  lips.  "  Hush  !  Let  us  say  no  more.  Some 
day,  perhaps,  when  I  come  again  they  will  think  more 
kindly  of  me.  It  is  a  beautiful  world  after  all,  for 
you  have  taught  me  where  to  look  for  strength  and 
comfort.  I  am  glad  if  only  for  a  time  to  have  met 
and  known  you." 

"  Only  for  a  time  ?  Why,  Mrs.  Granger,  you  speak 
as  though  you  meant  to  go  away  at  once,  and  I  thought 
you  would  stay  until  all  this  sad  business  of  yours  was 
settled." 

Again  the  sweet,  sad  smile. 

"  Ah,  my  friend,  it  is  not  I  who  will  go, — I  have  to 
stay, — but  it  is  you  who  will  feel  compelled  to  discon 
tinue  these — these  prized  visits.  Mr.  Hughes,  tell  me 
truly,  has  not  your  wife  upbraided  you  ?" 

"  My  wife  is  young  and  little  experienced  in  the  ways 

31* 


366  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

of  the  world,  and  she  has  been  annoyed  by  injudicious 
talk." 

"  Ah,  I  know,  I  know,  and  I  had  so  hoped  to  keep 
her  friendship, — she  interested  me  so  very  much, — but 
lean  see  ;  I  can  see  how  we  have  been  misjudged.  It 
is  hard  to  have  to  give  up  what  is  so  much  to  me,  but, 
dear  friend — you  are  my  friend? — you  will  be  what 
ever  happens?" 

"  How  can  you  ask  ?  Always,  always,  Mrs. 
Granger/7  he  sturdily  answered,  as  again  the  white 
hands  were  extended  to  him,  the  fair  head  drooped 
pathetically  on  that  heaving  bosom,  and  then,  luckily 
perhaps,  Mrs.  Morris  came  bustling  down  the  stairs, 
saying  tea  was  ready  and  that  Mr.  Hughes  really  must 
stay.  But  the  minister  was  in  no  mood  for  muffins. 
He  was  glad  to  take  his  hat  and  go. 

The  Christmas-tree  committee  was  divided  against 
itself,  and  almost  sure  to  fall.  Mrs.  Granger's  with 
drawal  was  announced  with  unnecessary  emphasis  by 
Mrs.  Morris,  who  plainly  intimated  that  "  some  people 
had  been  making  remarks,"  which  remark  itself  brought 
on  a  general  engagement.  Mrs.  Hughes  went  home 
aghast.  Here  was  something  she  had  not  contemplated 
and  knew  not  how  to  announce  to  her  husband ; 
but  tell  him  she  had  to,  and  matters  were  not  mended 
by  his  grave  reply  that  he  had  feared  that  the 
unkind  and  undeserved  remarks  at  Mrs.  Granger's 
expense  would  precipitate  just  such  a  catastrophe.  Ah 
me  !  how  many  generals  have  we  who  could  pick  to 
pieces  another  man's  plan  of  campaign,  yet  never 
succeed  with  one  of  their  own  !  How  many  doctors 
have  we  who  are  potent  in  every  malady  but  those 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  367 

which  are  personal !  How  many  of  our  clergy  are 
ministers  of  grace  indeed,  spreading  abroad  the  gospel 
of  peace  with  effort  unflagging,  but  saving  no  leaf  for 
home  consumption  !  How  many  a  man  can  regulate 
the  affairs  of  state,  of  commerce,  of  the  world  at  large, — 
anything,  but  the  tongue  of  his  wife  !  Mrs.  Hughes 
was  sure  she  could  have  said  nothing  at  all  at  which 
Mrs.  Granger  should  take  offence.  She  even  proposed 
putting  on  her  bonnet  then  and  there  and  going  around 
and  telling  Mrs.  Granger  just  what  she  had  said,  and, 
believing  it  to  be  the  speediest  way  to  end  the  war,  the 
rector  opposed  no  objection.  Mrs.  Hughes  pluckily 
went,  but  the  interview  never  took  place.  Mrs. 
Granger  received  her  instantly,  even  sweetly,  and 
presented  a  tall  young  officer  whom  Mrs.  Hughes  had 
occasionally  seen  at  the  fort  or  on  horseback  in  the 
streets,  a  man  whose  name  she  perfectly  well  knew,  but 
had  least  expected  to  encounter  there, — Mr.  Ho  11  is. 

Two  or  three  people  had  already  commented  on  the 
fact  that  this  young  gentleman  had  suddenly  renewed 
his  visits  to  the  lady  whom  for  months  he  had  seemed 
entirely  to  shun,  and  there  were  evidences  of  preoccu 
pation  in  his  manner  and  of  agitation  in  hers  at  this 
very  moment.  Mrs.  Hughes  was  pleasantly  welcomed, 
though  constrainedly,  by  Mrs.  Morris.  Then  who 
should  arrive  but  Mr.  Leavitt,  Lawyer  Leavitt,  as  they 
termed  him  locally,  and  the  lawyer  and  the  soldier 
shook  hands  somewhat  grimly,  she  thought,  and  then 
she  found  there  was  a  consultation  of  some  kind  going 
on,  and,  without  a  word  upon  the  subject  to  Mrs. 
Morris,  the  rector's  wife  made  her  adieux.  That  ended 
the  effort. 


368  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Meantime  there  had  been  what  Mr.  Wilkins  pro 
nounced  the  "  quarest"  row  they  ever  had  at  the  fort. 
It  was  principally  remarkable,  or,  as  Wilkins  called 
it,  "  quare,"  because  of  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Wilkins  was 
not  in  it.  She  had  the  facts  at  her  fingers'  ends,  how 
ever,  and,  somewhat  in  the  inverse  order  of  their 
occurrence,  they  were  simply  these. 

Colonel  Atherton  said  that  the  girls  Mina  and  Annie 
must  leave  the  garrison  forthwith.  They  were  given 
half  a  day  in  which  to  pack  up  and  go.  Captain 
Turner  had  had  the  wool  pulled  over  his  eyes  for  the 
fiftieth  time  by  his  pretty  wife,  and  Mina  had  been 
given  a  harbor  under  his  roof  at  the  intercession  of 
Mrs.  Turner  after  she  had  been  summarily  discharged 
by  the  Heaths.  Mrs.  Heath  was  a  woman  who  hated 
gossip  as  much  as  Mrs.  Turner  seemed  to  love  it.  She 
traced  a  new  story  about  Mrs.  Granger  and  Mr.  Hollis 
back  through  Mrs.  Gregg  to  Mrs.  Turner  (who  pro 
tested  she  had  never  believed  a  word  of  it,  and  never 
would  have  mentioned  it  for  the  world  if  she  had 
known  it  would  have  been  repeated),  and,  through 
Mrs.  Turner  to  her  own  back  door,  as  Mrs.  Heath 
already  suspected,  and  there  to  Mina.  In  ten  minutes 
Mina  was  weeping  in  Mrs.  Turner's  kitchen  and 
telling  there  her  woful  story  of  injustice  and  wrong. 
She  had  been  discharged  forthwith.  Mrs.  Turner 
considered  Mrs.  Heath's  action  a  reflection  on  her  own 
conduct.  She  had  one  servant  and  really  needed  no 
more  ;  but  that  evening  she  convinced  Turner  that 
household  work  was  breaking  her  down.  He  promptly 
offered  to  go  in  town  and  advertise  for  additional  help. 
Then  Mrs.  Turner  said  she  wanted  Mina,  a  smart, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  369 

capable  girl,  of  whom  Mrs.  Heath  had  spoken  in 
very  high  terms,  but  Mina  had  determined  a  month 
ago  that  she  could  not  get  along  with  Mrs.  Heath. 
Mrs.  Heath  was  very  exacting  and  the  children  a  great 
care.  Mina  never  could  get  along  with  children. 
Turner  told  his  wife  that  if  Mrs.  Heath  were  entirely 
willing  to  let  the  girl  go  he  would  not  interpose  objec 
tion.  "  Only,"  said  he,  dubiously,  "  she  used  to  talk 
so  much." 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Heath's  perfectly  willing,"  interrupted 
Mrs.  Turner.  "  What  she  wants  in  a  girl  is  entirely 
different  from  what  I  want."  And  even  in  making  it 
Mrs.  Turner  little  realized  the  truth  of  that  statement. 
But  Mina  was  no  sooner  lodged  under  the  new  roof 
than  she  exulted  in  her  triumph  and  boasted  herself 
accordingly.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Heath  thought  it 
utterly  improper  that  a  girl  discharged  by  them  for 
being  the  inventor  of  scandalous  stories  should  be  at 
once  taken  up  by  another  family  ;  but  they  said  nothing 
on  the  subject.  Accidentally,  however,  the  ladies  met 
and  a  spirited  controversy  occurred,  though  Mrs.  Heath 
kept  her  tongue  and  temper  under  excellent  control. 
Wilkius  got  hold  of  the  matter  in  some  way — the 
usual  way,  presumably — just  as  Hollis  came  back  from 
town,  flushed  and  excited  from  a  visit,  the  object  of 
which  he  mentioned  to  no  one, — the  visit  made  in 
compliance  with  her  note ;  and  Wilkins  told  Hollis, 
"just  to  devil  him"  as  he  expressed  it,  of  the  story 
afloat,  and  of  Mrs.  Turner's  having  harbored  the  girl 
whom  the  Heaths  had  so  promptly  discharged.  Hollis 
was  full  of  wrath  and  perturbation.  He  went  at  once 
to  the  colonel  with  the  whole  story.  The  colonel  ques- 
y 


370  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

tioned  Turner  and  Heath,  told  Turner  the  facts  in  the 
case,  and  poor  Turner  left  the  office  with  a  face  sadder, 
sallower,  older  than  ever,  to  say  to  his  wife  that  he 
knew  she  had  deceived  him  again.  Mrs.  Turner,  as 
was  customary  on  such  occasions,  took  refuge  in  com 
plete  prostration  and  bed. 

But  before  the  stage  called  for  Mina  and  her  trunk 
that  young  woman  had  unloaded  the  whole  responsi 
bility  for  the  tale  on  her  friend  Annie's  shoulders, — 
Annie,  who  had  lived  with  the  Grangers  and  knew 
whereof  she  spoke ;  and,  so  far  from  denying  this, 
Annie  sullenly  admitted  that  she  had  told  Mina,  and 
with  reason.  She  left  the  garrison  with  the  other  tale 
bearer  and  some  outspoken  maledictions,  and  then  went 
straight  to  Mrs.  Granger  when  she  got  to  town. 

Two  days  afterwards  Mr.  Hollis  took  the  Black 
Hills  stage,  a  seven  days'  leave  having  been  granted 
him  on  account  of  urgent  personal  business.  Every 
body  at  the  post  supposed  he  had  taken  the  east-bound 
train.  Even  the  colonel  was  amazed  when  old  "  Black 
Bill,"  coming  down  from  an  inspecting  tour,  blurted 
out, — 

"  I  saw  Hollis  at  Hat  Creek.  What  in  blazes  is  he 
doing  up  that  way?" 

But  there  was  consternation  at  Russell  in  another 
day  when  the  next  news  came. 

"  CANTONMENT  ON  THE  PORCUPINE,  December  20,  187-. 
"  COMMANDING  OFFICER 

"  — TH  CAVALRY,  FORT  RUSSELL  : 

"Lieutenant  Hollis  shot  by  desperadoes  at  Custer 
City.  Have  captured  deserter  Howell. 

(Signed)  "  BUXTON." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  371 

As  a  result  of  further  interchange  of  telegrams, 
Colonel  Atherton  decided  that  his  assistant  surgeon 
could  be  spared  to  go  up  at  once.  Blake  wired  Bil 
lings  that  Hollis's  condition  was  alarming,  and  that  the 
contract  doctor  with  them  was  nervous.  He  was  a 
very  young  practitioner,  and  this  was  his  first  experi 
ence  with  gunshot  wounds,  proof  positive  that  he  had 
lived  but  little  of  his  life  on  the  frontier.  Authority 
was  quickly  obtained  to  send  Doctor  Grimes  to  the 
scene,  and  Grimes  wired  to  town  to  secure  a  seat  in  the 
Black  Hills  stage.  In  three  hours  he  was  away  ;  and 
his  surprise  was  indeed  extreme  to  find  among  his  fel 
low-passengers  Lawyer  Leavitt,  Mrs.  Granger,  and  the 
recently-discharged  servant,  Annie. 


372  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THEKE  had  been  a  week  of  clear,  cold  weather,  fol 
lowing  upon  the  heels  of  a  snow-fall  that  had  mantled 
the  broad  valley  of  the  South  Cheyenne  in  glistening 
white.  Far  over  to  the  north  and  west,  where  lay  the 
Black  Hills  of  Dakota,  only  the  gloomy  forests  of 
pine,  clustering  thick  along  the  hill-sides,  remained  to 
warrant  the  sombre  name  given  to  the  range  by  savage 
warriors  many  a  generation  before.  All  the  valleys 
were  deeply  drifted,  all  the  bleak  hill-sides  thickly 
coated ;  and  here  on  the  southward  slope,  in  the  shel 
tered  rift  where  the  Porcupine  gurgled  along  under  its 
double  coat  of  ice  and  snow,  the  log  huts  of  the  can 
tonment  were  banked  to  their  very  eaves,  and  the 
Indian  lodges,  farther  down  the  stream,  peeped  from 
the  white  coverlet  with  all  their  dirt  and  squalor  inten 
sified  by  the  contrast.  Cavalry  horses  stood  in  comfort 
under  the  improvised  shelter  of  logs,  brush,  and  pine 
boughs,  and  waxed  fat  and  soft  and  lazy  and  more  and 
more  unfit  for  work  so  sure  to  come  with  the  spring. 
But  the  Indian  ponies,  hardy  and  half-starved,  lived 
their  customary  out-of-door  life,  and  seemed  just  as 
ready  for  devilment  of  any  kind  as  their  dawdling, 
frowzy  masters. 

And  here  in  the  utter  isolation  of  his  life,  shut  off 
from  companionship  of  almost  every  kind,  for  his 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  373 

junior,  Royce,  had  gone  on  leave,  and  Buxtofl,  his 
senior,  he  never  liked  at  all,  Gerald  Blake  was  serving 
his  self-imposed  sentence.  Here  Buxton  ate,  slept, 
growled,  and  swore,  rarely,  if  ever,  getting  into  saddle 
even  when  the  weather  was  fine  and  the  gray,  frost- 
rimed,  springy  tuft  seemed  to  invite  horse  and  rider 
to  vigorous  gallop.  Here,  with  the  weekly  coming  of 
the  mail  for  his  sole  diversion,  the  senior  alternately 
marvelled  and  sneered  at  the  fact  that  Blake  had  no 
complaints  to  make,  no  favors  to  ask  except  that  of  an 
occasional  hunting-trip  over  in  the  Hills.  Elk,  bear, 
and  black-tailed  deer  were  to  be  had  for  the  searching, 
and  Blake,  at  least  once  a  fortnight,  would  slip  away 
with  Hogan,  his  faithful  henchman,  and  a  brace  of 
Ogallalla  guides ;  take  abundant  robes,  blankets,  and 
provender  along  on  the  Indian  travois,  and  spend  three  or 
four  days  hunting  among  the  very  valleys  where,  in  the 
autumn  of  the  previous  year,  full  of  high  hope,  health, 
and  spirits,  he  had  come  to  meet  the  regiment  on  its 
return  from  the  campaign, — he  and  Tommy  Hollis, 
who  had  not  spoken  to  him,  except  when  compelled  to 
on  duty,  since  their  reappearance  at  Russell  in  Octo 
ber, — Tommy  whom  he  now  knew  he  had  outrageously 
wronged. 

And  on  whose  account  and  in  what  a  cause? 

Blake  would  hunt  from  dawn  to  nightfall,  clamber 
ing  resolutely  among  those  silent  hills,  following  his 
crouching,  cat-like  guides.  He  would  purposely  wear 
himself  out,  physically,  that  sleep  might  soothe  him 
in  the  long  watches  of  the  night.  Yet  many  an  hour 
he  lay  silent,  suffering  heaven  only  knows  what  sor 
rows,  living  over  the  months  of  that  mad  relapse  into 

32 


374  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

the  old  infatuation,  realizing  at  last  how  she  had  lured 
and  reconquered  him,  knowing  how  false  she  had  been, 
how  reckless  of  his  honor  and  good  name,  how  utterly 
cold-blooded  and  selfish.  The  sight  of  the  originals 
of  those  despatches  which  he  obtained  at  the  Denver 
office  after  that  last  interview  with  her,  was  all  that  was 
needed  to  prove  to  him  how  recreant  she  had  been  to 
her  trust,  how  faithless  to  her  promise  and  to  him. 
When  he  sent  that  final  note  and  her  package  of  letters, 
he  had  told  her  in  terms  that  were  positive,  even 
blunt,  that  never  again,  willingly,  would  he  set  eyes 
on  her,  and  when  she,  spurred  thereby  to  a  descent 
upon  his  defences,  was  announced  as  coming  at  once  to 
Cheyenne,  he  bethought  him  of  Saint  Anthony  and  "  the 
sweet  blue  eyes"  even  the  ascetic  dare  not  encounter, 
and  fled  to  the  very  wilds  of  the  West,  where  by  no 
possibility,  thought  he,  could  she  follow  him. 

One  starlit,  silent  night,  when  hardly  a  breath  of 
air  stirred  the  branches  overhead,  he  lay  with  his 
moccasined  feet  outstretched  to  the  camp-fire,  thinking 
of  the  last  night  he  had  spent  on  this  very  spot.  That 
was  the  night  that  he  was  boot-bombarded  out  of  the 
camp  of  the  — th,  and  had  run,  laughing,  breathless, 
all  fun  and  jollity,  to  the  little  fire  where  Stannard, 
Truscott,  and  Ray  were  still  quietly  chatting,  and  had 
there  heard,  as  though  in  prophecy,  of  the  order  that 
would  bring  him  face  to  face  with  the  woman  who  had 
tricked  him  long  years  ago.  He  recalled  all  the  reso 
lutions  made  on  the  homeward  march  and,  with  bitter, 
bitter  humiliation,  how  one  and  all  had  been  under 
mined  and  blown  into  thin  air.  He  wondered  whether 
Hollis  were  now  enjoying  the  field  abandoned  to  his  use, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  375 

basking  in  her  smiles  and  becoming  every  day  more 
and  more  entangled  in  the  web  she  knew  so  well  how 
to  weave.  He  could  do  Tommy  a  genuine  service  now 
by  putting  him  on  his  guard,  but  he  knew  perfectly 
well  ToPimy  would  not  be  put.  Did  not  Ray,  did  not 
Mrs.  Wilkins  try  to  do  the  same  by  him  all  through 
the  winter  and  spring,  and  had  not  he  scouted  their 
warnings  as  prejudiced  and  unjust,  even  in  face  of 
all  her  base  betrayal  of  him  so  many  years  before? 
How  he  wished  there  were  some  way,  however,  in 
which  Hollis's  passion-blinded  eyes  might  be  opened 
to  the  real  character  of  the  woman !  How  he  wished 
that  there  were  only  some  way,  some  way  in  which  to 
make  amends  to  him  for  the  brutal  wrong  he  had  done 
him  so  short  a  time  ago  ! 

And  now  the  moon  came  peeping  over  the  eastward 
heights  and  throwing  the  shadows  of  the  pines,  black, 
rigid,  and  unbending,  upon  the  silvery  surface  of  the 
opposite  slopes.  How  cold  and  still  the  face  of  the 
wintry  night !  How  pure  and  calm  !  How  passionless 
and  serene,  yet  how  dazzling  in  radiance  !  The  fever 
and  turmoil  in  his  breast,  the  gnawing  pain  at  heart,  as 
though  shamed  by  the  peace  of  all  surrounding  nature, 
seemed  at  last  sinking  into  slumber.  Close  at  hand, 
under  the  pines,  the  horses  were  drowsing.  Hogan, 
soundest  of  sleepers,  lay  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  fire  ; 
beyond  him  the  Indian  guides  and  their  shaggy  dogs. 
It  was  one  of  these  that  suddenly  lifted  up  a  sulky  head 
and  began  to  growl.  In  an  instant  its  companion  was 
on  its  feet  and  both  were  snarling  and  alert.  Blake 
listened  for  the  sound  of  snapping  twigs  to  account  for 
their  warning,  but  for  a  moment  all  was  still ;  then, 


376  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

however,  came  the  challenge  of  a  chorus  of  angry 
barks.  The  Indians  huddled  out  of  their  blankets  and, 
crouching,  peered  across  the  shining  valley,  then 
eagerly  signalled  to  Blake.  The  next  instant  there 
came  the  muffled  sound  of  cantering  hoofs,  and  before 
Blake  could  rise  to  his  feet  a  horseman  reined  up  close 
at  hand  with  cheery,  confident  hail. 

"  Can  any  of  you  gentlemen  tell  me  the  quickest 
way  to  Ouster  ?  Fve  got  off  the  trail  somehow." 
And  there,  the  moonlight  beaming  on  his  genial,  kindly 
face,  sat  Tommy  Hollis.  For  an  instant  there  was  no 
reply.  Blake  was  slowly  finding  himself;  Hogan  was 
only  beginning  to  wake ;  the  Indians,  of  course,  said 
not  a  word.  "  Fm  sorry  to  disturb  you,"  went  on  the 
speaker,  whose  horse  glanced  wistfully  about  as  though 
hopeful  of  rest  and  supper.  "  But  perhaps  it  was  your 
trail  I  followed  instead  of  the  road.  Our  stage  was  stalled 
down  towards  the  Gap, — first  one  that  tried  to  come 
through,  you  know,  since  the  storm, — and  I  had  an  en 
gagement  at  Ouster,  and  hired  this  plug  and  came  ahead. 
Knew  you  must  be  white  men  when  I  saw  the  tent." 
By  this  time  Blake  stood  erect : 
"It  is  I,  Hollis;  don't  you  know  me?" 
"  Blake !"  was  the  answer,  low-toned,  amazed,  even 
angry. 

"  Yes,  Blake.  The  last  man  you  expected  to  see, 
perhaps.  Certainly,  I  never  thought  to  see  you ;  yet 
it  is  of  you  I  have  been  thinking  for  an  hour  past. 
Dismount,  won't  you  ?" 

"  No,"  answered  Hollis,  with  cold  constraint,  as  he 
reined  back.  "  No,  I  am  due  at  Ouster  now,  and  wish 
to  go  on  ahead.  You  can  direct  me,  I  suppose  ?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  377 

"  Yes ;  but,  Hollis,  it's  a  good  ten  miles  from  here, 
the  trail  is  deep  in  snow,  and  I  want  to  speak  with 
you  more  than  any  man  I  know/7 

"  I  think  I  know  what  you  wish  to  say/'  was  the 
cold  reply,  u  and  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  there's  no 
man  I  care  less  to  speak  to  at  all." 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Hollis,  don't  let  us  both  be 
fools !  I  was,  and  I  wronged  you  brutally ;  but  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes  have  I  mourned  it  ever  since. 
Don't  deny  me  the  right  to  make  amends." 

"  It  isn't  that,"  said  Hollis,  slowly.  "  If  that  were 
all  I  would  have  forgotten  it  by  this  time.  I'm  not 
the  man  to  bear  malice  for  open  attack.  That  account 
was  squared  long  ago.  It  is  the  stab  in  the  dark — 
the  assault  one  can  never  be  prepared  to  meet — that  I 
hate  in  any  man." 

"  What  on  earth  do  you  mean,  Hollis  ?  Of  what 
do  you  accuse  me?  I  swear  I  never  wronged  you  in 
my  life,  knowingly,  except  in  that  one  thing." 

"  You  did,  Blake ;  you  wronged  me  in  the  meanest 
way  one  man  can  wrong  another,"  answered  Hollis,  his 
white  face  twitching  with  emotion.  "  The  man  who 
intrigues  against  another  and  fills  the  ears  of  a  woman 
with  contemptible  lies,  teaches  her  to  believe  all 
manner  of  ill  of  him,  and  breaks  off  a  long-standing 
friendship " 

"Hush!"  said  Blake,  uplifting  his  hand.  "Come 
here  to  one  side. — Lie  down,  Hogan,  we  shan't  need 
you. — Down,  you  two,"  he  motioned  to  the  Indians. 
Then,  his  hand  on  the  bridle-rein,  Blake  turned  as  if  to 
lead  the  horse  away,  but  Hollis  angrily  jerked  it  loose. 

"It's  useless,  Blake;  I  have  heard  the  whole  story 
32* 


378  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

from  her  lips  within  the  past  week.  You  took  ad 
vantage  of  my  absence  last  spring  to  sow  seeds  of  dis 
trust  by  hints  and  insinuations.  You  found  she  wrote 
to  me  later,  and  then  you  began  systematically  to  paint 
me  a  villain  in  her  sight.  When  you  found  her  stanch 
in  her  friendship,  then  you  dared  to  tell  her  I  bragged  of 
my  intimacy  with  her  and  exhibited  her  letters " 

"  Stop,  man  !     Who  told  you  this,  and  when  ?" 

"  Who  ?  The  woman  you  insulted  at  Denver.  The 
woman  you  strove  to  ruin  because  she  refused  to  marry 
you.  The  woman  whom  you  estranged  from  me  until 
this  last  week,  by  God !  when  she  gave  me  all  the 
details  of  your  infernal " 

"  That's  enough,  Hollis.  Go  no  further.  Do  you 
mean  that  Mrs.  Granger  told  you  this  of  me?  Do 
you  mean  that  you  believe  it  ?" 

"  Believe  it  ?  She  has  yet,  and  offered  to  show  me 
when  I  was  fool  enough  to  doubt  at  first — the  very 
words  in  which  you  sneered  at  me.  But  for  dragging 
her  name  into  misery,  by  God !  you  or  I  would  have 
to  quit  this  regiment  or  this  world.  Stand  aside  and 
let  me  go  I" 

White,  almost,  as  the  snow  at  his  feet,  Blake  stood 
there  silently  looking  up  into  the  furious  face  of  the 
younger  man  who  had  lashed  himself  into  this  torrent  of 
passion.  For  an  instant  he  did  not  speak,  then,  as  an 
impatient  gesture  warned  him  Hollis  meant  to  break 
away,  he  stepped  quickly  to  his  side. 

"  Listen  to  me,  man  !"  he  said.  "  As  God  is  my 
judge,  and  as  I  stand  here  at  your  side,  I  say  to  you 
that  never  have  I  spoken,  never  have  I  written  one 
word  to  blacken  your  name  in  her  sight.  I  tell  you 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  379 

solemnly,  Hollis,  she  is  tricking  you  as  she  has  twice 
utterly  played  false  to  me." 

But  Holl'is  would  hear  no  more.  A  fierce  cry  to 
his  horse,  a  savage  dig  with  the  spur,  and  he  had 
whirled  about  and  gone  lunging  back  along  the  trail, 
the  way  he  came,  braving  the  solitude,  the  wintry 
wastes,  the  snow-shrouded  trails  of  the  desolate  hills, 
rather  than  stay  one  instant  longer  and  hear  her  name 
defiled,  her  word  derided. 

"  Follow  the  lieutenant,"  said  Blake  to  Hogan,  as 
soon  as  he  could  recover  himself.  "  Start  him  on  the 
Ouster  trail, — he  cannot  miss  it  in  this  moonlight; 
and  then  come  back." 

But  there  was  no  more  sleep  for  Blake  that  night. 
It  was  barely  eight  o'clock  when  Hollis  rode  rnadly 
away.  It  was  barely  dawn  when  the  furious  bark 
ing  of  the  dogs  announced  the  sudden  coming  of  a 
stranger,  a  stalwart  frontiersman,  who  rode  straight  to 
the  fire. 

"  Lieutenant  Blake  here  ?"  he  said.  "  Your  friend, 
Lieutenant  Hollis,  had  a  shooting-match  with  Dick 
Brooks  at  the  stage-house  a  few  hours  ago,  and  I'm 
going  for  the  doctor  over  at  the  cantonment.  He  told 
me  you  were  here.  I  reckon  he's  a  goner,  but  he's  a 
plucky  one.  Brooks's  winged." 

Three  hours  more  and  Blake  was  bending  over  the 
rude  bed  on  which  lay  his  visitor  of  the  previous 
night,  while  a  sheriff's  officer  stood  guard,  with  Hogan 
in  reserve,  at  the  hut  where  Mr.  Brooks  was  submit 
ting  to  the  dressing  of  his  wounds,  never  knowing  that 
he  had  been  recognized  at  once  as  the  deserter  and 
escaped  prisoner,  Howell. 


380  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

There  were  but  few  witnesses  who  could  throw  the 
faintest  light  upon  the  affray.  The  proprietor  of  the 
rude  hotel  at  the  stage  station  knew  neither  party,  and 
could  only  say  that  the  man  called  Brooks  had  come 
down  from  the  direction  of  Rapid  City  the  day  pre 
vious,  accompanied  by  another  stranger.  They  had 
stabled  their  horses  and  strolled  about  the  place ;  that 
Brooks  was  annoyed  when  told  that  there  was  little  or 
no  chance  of  the  stage  coming  up  from  the  south  on 
account  of  the  heavy  drifts,  and  had  fidgeted  about  the 
premises  until  quite  late  at  night,  and  then  had  gone 
reluctantly  to  the  room  assigned  him,  while  his  com 
panion  wandered  over  to  the  "  faro  layout"  across  the 
street. 

"Just  about  eleven  o'clock  this  other  gentleman," 
said  the  host,  "  rode  in  from  the  south  and  put  up  his 
horse ;  he  said  he  had  had  a  hard  time  getting  across  the 
range,  and  immediately  inquired  if  any  one  was  waiting 
for  him, — a  man  named  Baker, — and  just  then  this  man 
Brooks  came  in  from  the  room  he  had  at  the  back  of 
the  house,  and  the  two  stood  and  looked  at  each  other 
a  moment  without  saying  a  word ;  then  the  new-comer 
spoke  slowly  :  i  I'm  looking  for  a  man  named  Baker, 
but  it  seems  to  me  Fve  seen  you  somewhere  before.' 
*  You've  never  seen  me  that  I  know  of/  said  Brooks, 
who  is  a  thick-set  fellow  with  a  sandy  beard,  '  and  I 
don't  know  who  you  are ;  but  I  was  to  meet  a  gentle 
man  from  Cheyenne.  Your  name  is ?'  '  My  name 

is  Hollis.  Suppose  we  step  outside  into  the  moon 
light  where  we  can  talk  quietly.'  And  so  they  had 
gone.  It  didn't  seem  more  than  five  minutes,"  said 
the  landlord,  "  before  the  pistols  began  to  crack."  He 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  381 

peeped  out  to  see  who  was  shooting  this  time,  and  there 
were  the  two  strangers,  the  tall  young  fellow  following 
up  the  burly  one,  who  was  dodging  and  firing  and 
falling  back.  The  men  came  tumbling  out  from  the 
faro  game  when  they  heard  the  shots,  and  just  then 
the  heavy  man,  Brooks,  stumbled  over  something  and 
fell  full  length,  and  his  pistol  was  hurled  away,  and 
what  does  the  young  fellow  do  but  throw  away  his  too, 
and  then  make  a  spring  and  grab  the  fallen  one  at  the 
throat.  Just  then  the  man  that  came  in  with  Brooks 
ran  across  the  street,  put  his  pistol  close  to  the  young 
gentleman's  side  and  fired.  "  Shot  him  from  behind, 
by  God  !"  said  the  landlord,  "  and  that  was  the  end  of 
it.  We  lifted  him  up  and  carried  him  in  here,  and 
some  of  the  boys  led  Brooks,  or  Baker,  whatever  his 
name  is,  away,  and  the  next  I  knew  some  one  came  and 
said  the  fellow  who  shot  the  lieutenant  had  gone 
away — saddled  his  horse  and  skipped.  Mr.  Hollis 
was  himself  long  enough  to  tell  us  who  he  was  and 
where  to  send  for  the  surgeon  and  where  to  find  you," 
said  he,  addressing  Blake.  "  And  the  boys  they  just 
made  up  their  minds  Brooks  shouldn't  leave,  though 
he  tried  to  go  as  soon  as  he  heard  the  soldiers  were 
coming." 

Such  was  the  proprietor's  story  to  Blake,  who,  in 
sore  distress,  returned  to  the  bedside,  where  Hollis  lay 
moaning  and  unconscious. 

Already  the  fever  seemed  setting  in.  Another  mes 
senger  was  sent  on  the  trail  of  the  first  with  a  note  to 
Buxton,  giving  in  brief  these  details,  and  stating  that 
Hogan  had  recognized  in  Brooks  the  man  Howell  who 
broke  jail  at  Russell,  where  he  had  been  arrested  as  a 


382  CAPTAIN  .BLAKE. 

deserter.  Buxton,  as  has  been  seen,  lost  no  time  in 
wiring  the  news,  but  it  was  late  at  night  before  the 
young  doctor  reached  the  scene,  and  by  that  time 
Hollis  had  been  some  twenty-four  hours  with  only 
such  surgery  as  Blake  and  the  Black  Killers  could 
devise.  After  all,  they  were  not  more  distressed  and 
worried  than  was  the  professional.  The  wound  had 
been  bandaged  and  the  flow  of  blood  checked  before 
even  Blake  arrived,  and  in  the  feverish  state  of  the 
patient  the  doctor  dare  not  attempt  to  probe  for  the 
bullet.  He  eagerly  assented  to  Blake's  suggestion  that 
they  telegraph  to  Laramie  or  Russell  for  a  surgeon. 
A  sergeant  and  four  men  had  come  with  orders  to 
arrest  Ho  well  and  convey  him  to  the  cantonment,  but 
by  this  time  Howell  was  himself  very  weak  from  loss 
of  blood,  for  Hollis  had  shot  him  through  the  right 
arm  and  thigh,  and  in  a  condition  of  physical  and 
mental  excitement  that  alarmed  the  doctor  and  led  to 
his  declaring  it  might  be  death  to  the  prisoner  to  move 
him  at  all.  By  this  time,  too,  he  knew  that  he  was 
under  guard,  and  had  begged  to  see  Lieutenant  Blake  ; 
but  Blake  would  not  leave  the  bedside  of  his  comrade. 
Then  Brooks  dictated  a  dispatch  to  be  sent  to  Chey 
enne,  and  it  went  almost  as  soon  as  that  from  Buxton, 
which  had  to  be  carried  a  score  of  miles  by  courier  be 
fore  reaching  a  telegraph  station. 

It  was  to  Mrs.  Granger,  care  of  Banker  Morris, 
Cheyenne. 

"  Betrayed  and  shot  by  your  agent.  Money  needed 
at  Custer  instantly,  or  the  truth  will  out.  Send  Annie 
with  it. 

"  Signed,  R.  BROOKS." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  383 

Even  as  Mrs.  Granger,  with  staring  eyes,  was  reading 
this  despatch,  in  came,  breathless,  Mrs.  Morris  with  the 
news  that  Tommy  Hollis  had  been  shot  dead  by  des 
peradoes  in  the  Hills.*  The  effect  of  the  double  an 
nouncement  was  immediate.  She  gasped,  stared  wildly 
at  her  friend  an  instant,  clutched  at  the  empty  air  and 
fainted  away.  Revived  by  Mrs.  Morris's  skillful  min 
istrations,  she  had  been  assisted  to  her  room,  whither  in 
ten  minutes  Leavitt  was  summoned  to  her  presence  ;  and 
then,  amid  tears  and  ejaculations  and  tragic  wringing 
of  hands  and  parading  up  and  down  the  floor,  she  con 
fided  to  him  a  story  that  he  never  even  faintly  suspected 
before,  and  that  made  his  gloomy  face  grow  black. 
Like  almost  every  other  man  who  had  come  under  the 
influence  of  his  client's  fascinations,  the  lawyer  had 
begun  to  feel  a  sentimental  interest  in  the  lovely  widow. 
It  was  too  late,  perhaps,  to  save  her  from  the  conse 
quences  of  so  important  a  concealment  from  her  pro 
fessional  adviser ;  but,  as  he  left  the  house  to  make  his 
hurried  preparations,  he  devoutly  thanked  heaven  it  was 
not  too  late  to  save  himself. 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  to  do,"  he  had  gravely, 
even  sternly,  told  her  :  "  we  must  reach  him  before — 
before  he  is  gone.  Where  can  that  girl  Annie  be 
found?" 


384  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

"  You  have  but  a  few  hours  to  live,  Brooks ;  the 
doctors  bid  me  tell  you  so.  It  is  useless  for  you  to 
hope.  Tell  the  truth  now.  You  have  sworn  all 
along  that  your  sister  was  still  alive.  Where  is  she  ?" 

It  was  Leavitt  who  spoke,  and  the  cold,  measured 
words  fell  like  a  sentence  upon  the  wretch  who  lay 
clutching  at  the  bed-clothes  and  glaring  at  the  solemn 
faces  grouped  about  him.  The  sheriff  stood  at  the 
door-way ;  Doctor  Grimes  was  at  the  foot  of  the  bed, 
closely  scanning  the  patient's  twitching  face ;  the  girl 
Annie,  a  comely  young  woman,  was  kneeling  and 
holding  the  fevered  head  upon  her  arm,  glancing  ner 
vously  around  from  face  to  face,  her  eyes  red  and 
swollen  from  excessive  weeping. 

Brooks  turned  piteously  to  Grimes.  For  three  days 
the  wounded  man  had  furiously  raged  at  any  one  who 
suggested  the  faintest  possibility  of  a  fatal  termina 
tion  to  the  case.  All  along,  since  the  high  fever  first 
asserted  itself,  the  younger  physician  had  seemed  grave 
and  anxious ;  and  when  Grimes  arrived  and  could 
spare  a  little  time  from  his  proper  patient,  the  con 
dition  of  Brooks  was  almost  definitely  settled, — both 
doctors  feared  blood-poisoning.  Annie  had  been  ad 
mitted  to  the  room  immediately  upon  her  arrival,  and 
had  thrown  herself  weeping  upon  her  knees,  clasping 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

the  stricken  man's  hand  in  her  own  and  calling  him 
husband.  They  would  not  take  her  away  ;  indeed, 
Brooks  seemed  somewhat  soothed  by  her  presence, 
though  at  first  he  peevishly  rebuked  her  tears  and 
stoutly  assured  her  he  would  soon  be  up  and  well. 
Leavitt  was  later  accorded  a  private  interview  with 
him,  which  left  the  patient  more  fretful  and  feverish, 
even  furious  with  anger.  Loudly  he  maintained  that 
all  he  had  told  Mrs.  Granger  was  true  and  she  knew 
it,  and  Mrs.  Granger  was  too  much  prostrated  by 
the  fatigue  of  her  long  journey  by  stage  to  approach 
him  at  all,  unless,  perchance,  he  had  a  different  story 
to  tell. 

When  warned  that  he  was  disbelieved,  and  when  it 
was  first  intimated  to  him  that  he  might  not  recover, 
he  called  them  liars  and  robbers  ;  he  refused  to  believe 
there  was  danger ;  refused  to  modify  his  statement  in 
the  least.  The  terrible  whip  he  had  held  over  the 
head  of  Granger  for  years  had  only  been  partially 
conjectured,  and  now,  as  revealed  to  Leavitt  after  vigor 
ous  cross-questioning  of  Mrs.  Granger,  of  Brooks  and 
Annie,  was  practically  as  follows  :  Years  before,  while 
stationed  in  the  South,  Granger  had  married  the  sister 
of  this  very  clerk ;  it  was  a  secret  marriage ;  it  was 
not  entirely  a  voluntary  affair  on  Granger's  part;  it 
was  followed  by  strife  and  misery  and  sin.  She  re 
mained  there  a  pensioner  when  he  came  away,  and 
there  Granger's  spies  were  left  to  watch  her.  As  the 
price  of  his  own  silence,  Brooks  demanded  and  got 
through  Granger's  influence  a  clerkship,  which  soon 
took  him  North.  While  he  was  away  ample  proof 
was  furnished  the  major  of  the  infidelity  of  the  woman 
R  z  83 


386  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

who  was  entitled  to  bear  his  name;  but  before  he 
could  cast  her  off  through  the  courts  she  had  vanished 
from  the  scene,  and  the  next  thing  that  came  was  the 
well-authenticated  report  of  her  death.  Few  people 
knew  anything  of  the  marriage.  Her  sudden  demise 
had  brought  him  release  without  the  scandal  and  pub 
licity  of  legal  proceedings,  and  now,  doubly-freed, 
Granger  soon  met  and  eagerly  paid  his  court  to  Made 
leine  Torrance,  and  almost  the  first  man  he  encoun 
tered  on  his  transfer  to  the  West  was  this  same  clerk, 
destitute  and  dissipated,  but  armed  with  letters  proving 
Mrs.  Granger  the  first  to  be  still  alive, — her  own  let 
ters  written  within  the  month. 

Granger  was  simply  appalled.  He  loved  after  his 
fashion  the  beautiful  woman  whom  he  had  so  proudly 
introduced  as  his  wife ;  he  rejoiced  in  the  attention  she 
received,  even  though  he  soon  grew  madly  jealous  of 
more  than  one  of  her  admirers.  By  this  time  he  had 
learned  all  the  old  story  of  her  engagement  to  Blake, 
though  she  had  laughed  it  off  as  a  school-girl  affair. 
But,  in  some  way,  she  had  gradually  become  acquainted 
with  many  of  the  rumors  with  regard  to  his  past  life, 
both  personal  and  official.  What  maddened  him  was 
the  consciousness  that  she  not  only  cared  nothing  for 
him,  but  had  openly  told  him  that  she  held  him  in 
contempt.  The  story  of  their  occasional  quarrels  and 
of  his  having  struck  her  were  founded  on  fact,  though 
only  on  one  occasion  had  he  ever  been  goaded  into  a 
blow.  Brooks  demanded  for  himself  employment  at 
the  depot,  and  for  his  sister  the  payment  through  him 
of  a  certain  sum  of  money  every  month.  She  had  run 
away  from  New  Orleans  with  her  lover  when  con- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  387 

vinced  that  her  crime  was  known,  and  Brooks  assured 
the  major  she  had  lived  with  that  party  several  years 
until  his  sudden  death  left  her  penniless.  She  had 
eagerly  lent  herself  to  the  plan  of  deceiving  her  hus 
band  by  the  story  of  her  death.  She  really  loved  the 
young  Southerner  who  had  tempted  her  away ;  indeed, 
she  had  been  on  the  point  of  marrying  him  at  the  out 
break  of  the  Rebellion,  when  a  lover's  quarrel  inter 
posed,  and  in  a  huff  he  enlisted  in  the  Tigers  and 
went  with  Dick  Taylor's  brigade  to  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  After  the  occupation  of  New  Orleans  by  the 
Union  forces,  she  and  her  mother  were  left  without 
means  or  protection.  Brooks,  the  brother,  was  in  the 
Confederate  service  as  a  junior  officer,  but  was  captured 
at  Fort  St.  Philip,  and,  being  smart  and  unscrupulous, 
gave  his  parole  not  to  serve  again  with  the  gray 
battalions,  where  he  had  every  chance  of  being  killed, 
but  in  a  more  practical  way  he  took  up  arms  against 
the  United  States  as  an  understrapper  in  the  great  sup 
ply  depot  in  New  Orleans,  where  a  man  of  his  knowl 
edge  and  address  could  find  abundant  opportunity  of 
despoiling  the  Egyptians.  The  sister  was  then  in  the 
heyday  of  her  attractions,  dark,  vivacious,  wild  as  a 
hawk,  and  perfectly  willing  to  accept  the  attentions 
Granger  and  others  lavished  upon  her,  since  they  were 
accompanied  by  reckless  expenditure  of  money  at 
her  capricious  will.  All  through  the  war  the  major 
was  stationed  in  the  Crescent  City,  was  married  to  her 
late  in  '64,  six  months  before  the  surrender  at  Ap- 
pomattox,  and  not  long  before  the  return  of  the  lover  of 
her  girlhood  days.  The  latter  would  have  scorned  and 
avoided  her,  but  this  was  a  case  where  not  man,  but 


388  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

woman,  proposed.  She  and  Granger  had  quarrelled 
from  the  start.  He  had  lavished  money  on  her  when 
she  was  free  to  choose,  but  denied  it  now  that  she  was 
bound.  When  summoned  North  he  left  her  to  her 
own  devices,  and  was  in  nowise  surprised  at  her  de 
fection.  He  thanked  God  as  piously  as  he  knew  how 
when  he  heard  she  was  dead,  and  now  he  was  aghast, 
for  Brooks  coolly  told  him  she  would  indeed  have  left 
him  unmolested  forever  if  her  lover  had  lived  ;  but 
after  several  blissful  years  in  Texas  the  ex-Confederate 
captain  had  suddenly  died,  leaving  her  with  three 
children,  but  otherwise  destitute.  "  She  empowers  me 
to  say  that  her  silence  can  be  bought,"  said  Brooks  to 
Granger,  and  named  the  terms. 

And  with  this  mill-stone  about  his  neck,  Granger 
lived  his  first  year  at  the  depot,  while  Brooks  was  be 
having  so  outrageously  that  the  major's  name  was  con 
stantly  being  involved.  Every  "  rounder'7  in  Cheyenne 
knew  that  month  after  month  Brooks  was  spending 
much  more  than  double  his  pay.  It  became  evident 
that  he  was  not  only  embezzling  the  money  paid  for  his 
sister,  but  that  he  had  still  other  sources  of  supply. 
Granger  had  already  detected  him  in  selling  forage  and 
other  property  to  freighting  and  cattle  "  outfits."  At 
last,  after  a  violent  quarrel  with  Mrs.  Granger,  and 
nerved  to  desperation,  the  major  had  summarily  dis 
charged  the  fellow  and  dared  him  to  do  his  worst, 
simply  assuring  him  that  he  would  kill  him  if  he 
showed  his  face  around  the  depot  again,  and  then  blow 
his  own  brains  out  if  he  found  that  the  scoundrel  had 
betrayed  him.  As  this  latter  course  would  effectually 
cut  off  his  main  source  of  revenue,  Brooks  was  indeed 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  389 

alarmed.  He  implored  his  brother-in-law  not  to  punish 
him,  and  then  offered  for  a  large  sum  in  cash  to  sur 
render  his  sister's  letters;  Granger  refused,  shrewdly 
asking  what  was  the  use,  since  Brooks  could  easily 
supply  himself  with  others  just  like  those  already 
exhibited. 

Meantime  the  girl  Annie  had  come  to  live  at  the 
depot  in  the  Grangers'  household.  She  was  young, 
good-looking,  giddy,  and  Brooks  saw  that  she  might  be 
made  very  useful.  He  made  love  to  her ;  had  secret 
meetings  with  her  in  the  dark  shadows  of  the  great 
deserted  buildings  after  her  evening  work  was  done. 
She  was  soon  completely  fascinated,  despite  the  fact  that 
Grimsby,  the  Englishman,  had  been  paying  her  quite 
devoted  attention  and  had  offered  marriage.  Annie  was 
a  born  gossip  and  chatter-box,  but  no  fool.  Brooks 
actually  became  enamored  of  her  comely  face  and 
form  ;  but  not  until  a  civil  magistrate  had  sealed  the 
compact  would  she  be  further  deluded.  Then,  though 
he  soon  began  to  neglect  and  ill-treat  her,  she  was 
loyally  obedient  to  his  every  wish,  except  perhaps  when 
chatting  with  her  half-sister  Mina,  when  the  passion 
for  gossip  and  the  possession  of  startling  and  sen 
sational  topics  overcame  her  sense  of  duty ;  but  even 
from  Mina  she  concealed  the  fact  of  her  alliance  with 
Brooks. 

Finding,  at  last,  that  he  had  gone  too  far ;  that 
Granger,  maddened,  hounded,  bled,  blackmailed,  was 
now  so  desperate  that  at  any  moment  he  might  indeed 
precipitate  a  catastrophe,  expose  him  as  a  thief  and 
forger — which  he  readily  could  do — and  possibly  blow 
his  own  brains  out,  Brooks  played  his  last  card. 

33* 


390  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Granger  dared  him  to  produce  his  sister,  and  refused  to 
furnish  more  money  until  he  did.  It  was  useless  to 
attempt  to  bleed  him  further,  but — there  was  Mrs. 
Granger.  He  began  by  anonymous  letters,  which 
Annie  left  where  her  mistress  must  find  them.  Then 
he  ventured  to  the  depot  one  night  when  he  knew 
Granger  to  be  in  town,  and  the  moment  her  visitors 
had  departed  demanded  audience,  and  boldly  told  her 
that  she  must  secure  his  restoration  to  his  position  as 
clerk  and  her  husband's  assurance  that  he  should  not 
be  prosecuted,  or  she  was  a  ruined  woman.  Mrs. 
Granger  was  both  angered  and  agitated  at  first,  but 
speedily  grew  calm,  and  even  interested,  when  it  ap 
peared  that  it  was  not  her  honor  he  threatened  to 
undermine,  but  her  husband's.  He  told  of  the  proofs 
he  had  of  the  major's  peculations  in  the  South.  She 
treated  him  with  cool  contempt :  "  All  that  was  in 
vestigated,  sir,  and  he  was  acquitted."  At  last,  furious 
at  her  calm  and  his  own  failure,  Brooks  burst  forth 
with  the  announcement  that  she  was  not  even  Granger's 
wife.  Here,  too,  he  failed.  She  was  now  calm,  cold, 
and  contemptuous.  He  referred  possibly  to  the  fact 
that  Major  Granger  had  had  some  absurd  connection 
with  some  obscure  woman  in  New  Orleans  during  the 
war  days  ;  she  knew  all  about  that.  "  The  woman  was 
my  sister,"  was  the  next  announcement  of  Brooks,  "  and 
I  witnessed  the  marriage,  as  did  others  who  are  still 
alive."  But  even  now  Mrs.  Granger  did  not  wince. 

"That  is  of  no  especial  importance,"  said  she; 
"this-er — lady  died  long  years  ago." 

"  Your  husband  lied  to  you,"  said  Brooks.  "  He 
knew  all  along  she  was  alive;  to  this  very  day  she  is 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  391 

his  pensioner,  lie  her  sole  support/'  Then  indeed  Mrs. 
Granger  had  gasped  and  clutched  her  chair. 

"  That  is  false,  every  word  of  it,"  was  her  answer. 

"  It  is  true,  every  syllable,"  was  his.  "  Here  are 
letters  from  her,  written  this  very  year.  In  ten  days, 
yes,  in  six,  I  can  produce  her  in  Cheyenne,  and  with 
his  child." 

Then  of  a  sudden  the  major's  voice  was  heard  with 
out.  Brooks  stripped  three  letters  from  a  package  he 
took  from  his  pocket :  "  Read  these,"  he  said.  i(  I 
will  be  here  to-morrow  night  for  your  answer." 

But  before  the  morrow  night  came  there  was  a 
gambling  row  in  town,  and  Brooks,  ex-clerk,  was  borne 
away  by  his  friends  to  the  Cache  la  Poudre,  while  a 
coroner's  jury  sat  on  the  other  party  to  the  row,  and 
this  time  brought  in  a  square  verdict.  The  victim  was 
a  popular  gambler ;  the  victor,  the  aggressor  in  the 
fight,  was  regarded  with  deep  disfavor.  Having  lost  his 
position  under  the  government,  he  was  not  now  a  use 
ful  member  of  society.  Fuel  and  forage  and  other 
such  things  no  longer  were  attainable  at  rates  far 
below  the  market  quotations.  The  jury  found  the 
deceased  came  to  his  death  at  the  hands  of  Brooks, 
and  a  warrant  was  issued  for  his  arrest. 

"  I  was  shot  then  twice  as  bad  as  I  am  this  time," 
raved  Brooks,  as  he  told  of  this  episode,  "  and  I  got 
well  in  a  few  weeks,  just  as  I'll  get  well  now;  only, 
damn  those  soldiers  who  swore  I  was  a  deserter.  I 
wasn't.  I  did  go  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  wrote  to 
Granger  from  there,  and  he  sent  me  money  for  nearly  a 
year  provided  I'd  stay  away  ;  but  I  was  fool  enough  to 
go  back.  I  heard  that  fellow  Grimsby  was  making  up 


392  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

to  Annie  again,  and  I  went  and  I  got  there  to  the 
depot  that  night  it  blew  so  horribly,  and,  sure  enough, 
there  was  Grimsby  sitting  in  the  kitchen  with  her  and 
making  eyes  at  her  until  I  was  mad  enough  to  shoot 
him.  I  watched  until  he  came  out,  then  tackled  him 
at  the  barn  and  nearly  choked  him  to  death  before  he 
could  beg.  Then  he  swore  that  he  thought  I  was 
dead ;  that  he  meant  honestly  by  her ;  that  Mrs. 
Granger  had  brought  other  servants  from  the  East 
and  tried  to  get  rid  of  Annie,  but  that  he  had  in 
duced  Mrs.  Granger  to  take  Annie  back,  but  that 
Annie  must  have  known  all  along  I  was  alive  and 
she  had  played  me  false.  There  was  a  gentleman  at 
the  fort  had  taken  a  fancy  to  her,  Grimsby  said,  a 
tall,  fine-looking  fellow,  a  Lieutenant  Hollis,  and  he 
made  her  presents  and  came  to  see  her  evenings  when 
Granger  or  his  wife  and  Martha,  the  other  girl,  were 
away ;  she  let  him  know  when  she'd  be  alone." 

Brooks  knew  the  lieutenant  by  sight,  since  Hollis 
came  to  the  fort  not  long  before  the  latter  had  to  leave, 
and  Hollis  did  not  know  Brooks  at  all ;  and  just  then, 
while  Grimsby  was  talking  to  him,  a  horse  neighed  at 
the  gate,  and  the  Englishman  said  :  "  By  God,  there 
he  is  now."  "  I  sprang  up,  releasing  him,"  said 
Brooks;  "and  there,  sure  enough,  in  the  dim  light  of 
the  lamps,  I  could  see  a  tall  officer  hurrying  through 
the  gate.  He  came  round  to  the  side,  looked  in  at  the 
kitchen  window,  but  Annie  had  gone  up  stairs ;  then 
I  was  sure  it  was  her  he  was  after.  I'd  been  drinking, 
and  when  he  turned  I  picked  up  the  first  thing  that 
stood  there  by  the  carriage-shed  and  went  for  him. 
He  sprang  to  the  front  entrance  and  was  just  reaching 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  393 

the  bell  when  I  struck  him  one  blow,  and  then,  to  my 
horror,  saw  it  wasn't  Hollis  at  all.  I  had  to  skip  for 
town  at  once,  where  some  fellows  I  knew  gave  me 
shelter.  I  was  afraid  I  might  have  killed  him. 
Lieutenant  Blake  knows  who  it  was.  Where  is  he, 
doctor  ?" 

"  He  is  with  Mr.  Hollis,"  answered  Grimes,  glanc 
ing  anxiously  at  the  lawyer. — "  Do  you  need  more  ?" 
he  asked. 

"  Much  more.  He  hasn't  told  half ;  he  doesn't  un 
derstand  he  has  no  chance  of  living.  He's  lying  yet 
in  some  things,"  was  the  low-toned  answer. 

Annie  was  sobbing  again  and  bent  over  to  kiss  the; 
fevered  face  :  "  You  knew  I  couldn't  be  wicked  when 
I  loved  you  so,  Dick,"  she  moaned.  "  Why  did  you 
believe  him?" 

"  Damn  him  !  I  paid  him  off  well  afterwards,  even 
though " 

"  Hush,  Dick,  hush,"  she  interrupted,  putting  her 
hand  on  his  mouth  ;  "  don't  speak  of  that." 

"  Yes,  let  him  speak,"  demanded  Leavitt.  "  There 
is  more  he  must  tell.  First,  though,  where  is  your 
sister  now,  Brooks  ?" 

"  Where  you'll  never  find  her  so  long  as  I  live.  I'm 
her  agent.  I've  got  her  power  of  attorney.  You 
can't  make  me  believe  I'm  dying.  You're  leagued 
against  me  in  the  hope  of  extorting  a  confession ;  but 
it's  truth  I'm  telling  you.  Ask  her  ;  ask  the  woman 
who  calls  herself  Mrs.  Granger  if  it  isn't  truth.  She 
has  paid  me  well  to  keep  her  secret,  but  not  half 
enough.  The  jig's  up  now,  I  suppose,  since  she  has 
been  fool  enough  to  tell  her  lawyer.  She  might  have 


394  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

enjoyed  her  name  and  her  wealth  the  rest  of  her  life 
if  she  hadn't  been  such  an  idiot.  I  only  ask  reason 
able  allowance.  He  was  willing  enough  to  give  me 
fifteen  hundred  a  year  until  I  got  into  trouble  there. 
He  had  me  watched  and  threatened  and  then  defied  any 
revelations  I  might  make  ;  but  the  moment  I  put  those 
letters  in  her  hands  he  was  gone.  That's  what  made 
her  go  to  the  sea-shore  and  stay  all  last  summer  ;  but 
she  was  a  fool  there :  instead  of  giving  those  letters 
back  to  me  or  even  burning  them,  she  kept  them  to 
taunt  him  with,  to  hold  over  him  when  he  forbade  her 
dancing  or  going  with  other  men, — those  young  fellows 
out  at  the  fort.  He  searched  her  desks  and  trunks  and 
drawers, — Annie  saw  him,  Annie  knows, — trying  to 
find  those  letters  and  others  that  he  believed  she  got  from 
Lieutenant  Hollis ;  she  never  left  them  out  of  her 
sight  until  the  night  of  that  big  party  up  there  at  the 
fort;  she  had  them  in  the  inner  pocket  of  that  seal 
skin  jacket, — Annie  knew  it, — and  he  knew  they  must 
be  there.  He  didn't  know  what  else  he'd  find,  though, 
when  he  slashed  through  that  canvas  and  searched  her 
pockets.  He  got  three  letters  his  rightful  wife  had 
written  to  me ;  he  found  a  long  one  his  bogus  wife  had 
written  to  Lieutenant  Blake, — her  old  lover, — and  an 
awful  row  they  had  that  night  when  they  got  home, — 
Annie  heard  it  all.  After  that  it  was  just  hell  and 
repeat."  But  here  a  fit  of  coughing  choked  his  utter 
ance,  and  Grimes  signalled  to  the  lawyer  that  he  must 
talk  no  more. 

But  by  nightfall  the  bold  defiance  and  the  mad  rav 
ing  were  ended.  Brooks  at  last  seemed  to  realize  that 
he  was  going  fast.  Doctor  Grimes  had  been  away 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  395 

much  of  the  day;  two  patients  demanded  his  attention 
now.  Annie,  weeping  afresh,  had  told  her  pitiful  tale 
•in  response  to  the  stern  demands  of  the  lawyer. 
Brooks  was  forever  urging  her  to  gain  possession  of 
any  letters  her  mistress  might  have  received  either  from 
Hollis  or  Blake.  In  the  low  cunning  of  the  fellow  he 
could  never  rid  himself  of  the  idea  that  she  was  carry 
ing  on  a  love-affair,  the  proofs  of  which,  once  in  his 
hands,  would  enable  him  to  blackmail  her  to  his  heart's 
content.  He  had,  indeed,  enlisted  on  the  Pacific  coast 
under  the  name  of  Howell,  after  a  protracted  spree  of 
drink  and  gaming  had  left  him  destitute.  He  kept  up 
his  threatening  letters,  sending  them  through  Sergeant 
Jamieson  and  the  Einsteins  in  town,  the  firm  that  so 
sorely  tempted  the  stable  sergeants  at  the  fort  and  had 
compassed  the  downfall  of  the  ex-hussar.  There  was 
a  gang  of  six  or  eight,  Annie  tearfully  admitted  ;  she 
had  implored  her  lover  to  have  no  more  to  do  with 
them,  but  it  was  useless  ;  he  was  deep  in  the  toils. 
She  was  mad  with  fear  when  Brooks  reappeared  one 
night  at  the  depot  and  tapped  at  the  window.  He 
was  always  jealous  of  Grimsby,  and  half  afraid  of  him, 
too,  for  Grimsby  could  not  but  know  many  of  his 
secrets.  Grimsby  knew  nothing  of  her  marriage, 
though,  and  kept  persecuting  her  with  his  suit,  and 
then  got  to  drinking  because  she  refused  him.  Then 
he,  too,  began  threatening  Mrs.  Granger,  and  talking 
about  the  letters  that  he  used  to  carry  for  her  to  the 
fort;  and  when  he  was  discharged,  what  did  he  do  but 
go  right  to  Lieutenant  Blake  when  he  was  drunk, 
thinking  to  induce  him  to  intercede  to  get  him  restored 
to  his  job,  and  when  Blake  refused  he  grew  reckless 


396  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  impudent,  and  said  things  about  him  and  Mrs. 
Granger  that  led  to  Mr.  Blake's  thrashing  him ; 
Grimsby  told  her  about  it.  He  was  taken  into  the  gang 
after  his  discharge  from  the  Grangers'  service  by  the 
Einsteins  at  Jamieson's  request ;  and  then  Brooks 
came  back  again  on  being  assured  in  town  that  there 
would  be  no  further  trouble  about  his  shooting  scrape 
if  he  could  raise  a  thousand  dollars  to  tf  fix"  certain 
officials.  She  was  frightened  at  his  coming,  because 
Granger  had  found  out  more  of  his  crimes,  and  so  he 
dare  not  show  himself  at  the  depot ;  but  Annie  met 
him  in  town  whensoever  he  demanded,  and  there  he 
grew  reckless  and  began  drinking  again,  and  threatened 
to  kill  Reilly,  who  had  been  taken  as  driver  in  place 
of  Grimsby,  for  it  was  Reilly  who  betrayed  him  to 
the  major.  He  went  out  to  the  fort  the  night  of  the 
theatricals  and  attacked  Reilly  there,  and  was  recog 
nized  as  a  deserter  and  imprisoned.  He  wrote  to 
Granger  to  come  at  once  and  get  him  out  or  else  he 
would  tell  everything  he  knew ;  no  answer  reached 
him.  He  was  furious  .  against  the  major  when  he 
sawed  himself  out  that  awful  night,  and,  scudding 
before  the  gale,  made  his  way  down  the  valley  to  the 
shack  ;  that  was  the  night  the  major  disappeared,  and 
she  never  again  saw  Granger  or  Grimsby  alive. 

And  here  she  was  summoned  to  the  bedside  of  the 
dying  man.  He  was  face  to  face  at  last  with  the  dread 
conqueror.  He  was  utterly  broken  down.  So  long  as 
a  vestige  of  hope  remained  he  had  stood  firm  in  his 
denials.  Now  his  story  was  gasped  in  short  whispered 
sentences  to  their  straining  ears.  It  was  a  weird  and 
villanous  tale,  and  practically  as  follows  : 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  397 

There  were  five  of  them  at  the  shack  when  he  got 
there  at  midnight,  for  Granger  had  made  his  way 
thither  the  instant  it  was  dark,  in  order  to  consult  with 
Einstein  and  the  others,  with  a  view  to  establishing  an 
alibi  or  something  that  would  get  Brooks  out  of  the 
guard-house  and  enable  them  to  start  him  away  ;  but 
Granger  never  dreamed  of  Brooks's  escape  that  night 
any  more  than  that  he  himself  could  get  back  to  the 
depot  in  face  of  that  blizzard.  Brooks  was  mad  with 
rage  and  suffering  when  he  reached  the  hut  and  found 
him  sitting  there  at  midnight,  pleading,  actually  plead 
ing,  with  Jamieson  and  Grimsby  and  Einstein,  and 
Einstein  was  jeering  at  him,  taunting  him,  showing 
him  the  letters  Lieutenant  Blake  had  dropped  at  the 
stables  that  spoke  of  others  that  she  had  written  to 
him, — the  letter  that  Jamieson  had  found  and  yet  de 
nied  having  seen.  Brooks  must  have  been  mad  that 
night, — crazy,  in  fact ;  for  he  filled  up  with  whiskey 
and  joined  in  the  taunts  at  Granger's  expense.  They 
had  him  at  their  mercy ;  he  could  not  escape ;  they 
tortured  him  with  their  sneers  and  insults,  but  it  was 
not  until  Grimsby  had  got  recklessly,  madly  drunk 
that  the  tragedy  came.  They  had  united  in  a  demand 
that  he  should  sign  a  paper  pledging  himself  to  make 
certain  monthly  payments  to  each  and  every  one  of  the 
party,  and  when  he  refused,  and  they  assured  him  every 
thing  should  be  made  public,  Brooks,  who  saw  the 
agony  and  despair  on  his  face,  fearing  that  they  might 
drive  him  to  suicide  and  so  rob  him  of  the  perquisites  he 
had  so  long  undividedly  enjoyed — Brooks  interposed, 
and  a  new  quarrel  ensued  between  Grimsby  and  him 
self;  the  next  thing  he  knew  pistols  were  out,  Granger 

84 


398  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

had  fired  one  shot,  just  one,  when  down  he  went  on  his 
face;  someone's  bullet  had  done  the  work.  The  major 
lay  there  in  the  shack,  stone  dead.  They  had  killed 
the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  egg. 

Then  horror  had  settled  upon  them.  Brooks  was 
crazed  with  fear  of  discovery.  They  dragged  the  body 
out  iD  the  course  of  an  hour,  hid  it  in  the  rapidly- 
filling  ravine  back  of  the  hut,  and  swore  each  other 
to  secrecy.  Grirnsby  begged  Einstein  for  money  to  get 
away  with,  but  he  would  not  give  a  cent.  He  would 
pay,  he  said,  liberally  for  goods  as  before,  and  that 
meant  more  robbery.  They  decided  on  the  magazine 
and  Freeman's  stable,  and  Brooks  determined  to  raid 
Blake's  room  for  letters  which  Annie  was  sure  Mrs. 
Granger  no  longer  had,  but  had  given  to  him  to  secrete 
for  her.  The  robbery  was  successsful,  except  that  Brooks 
found  nothing  and  Jamieson  was  caught.  They  knew 
he  would  not  peach,  but  Grimsby's  share  of  the 
plunder  was  small ;  his  nerve  was  gone  ;  he  was  aghast 
when  the  papers  announced  a  large  reward  was  to  be 
offered  for  the  discovery  of  Major  Granger  ;  he  talked 
wildly  of  his  fears,  and  then  declared  he  could  not  bear 
the  suspense  any  longer,  he  must  get  away  ;  but  Brooks 
charged  him  with  intention  of  turning  State's  evidence  ; 
a  desperate  quarrel  followed,  a  fight,  and  Grimsby 
was  tossed  into  the  swollen  creek,  a  corpse,  with  a 
bullet  through  the  brain. 

"  I  swear  I  never  fired  the  shot  that  killed  Granger," 
moaned  Brooks ;  "  but  Grimsby  would  have  sworn  I 
did.  It  was  a  fair  fight  I  had  with  the  Englishman  ; 
one  or  the  other  had  to  go;  it  was  his  life  or  mine." 

And  so  the  gang  was  thinned  out  badly,  Jamieson 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  399 

and  the  stable  orderly  jailed,  Grirnsby  dead,  and 
Granger  lying  there  in  the  snow  behind  the  shack; 
the  others  were  in  hiding,  waiting  for  money  from 
Einstein,  the  night  after  Grimsby  was  killed.  Brooks 
had  been  nervous  all  day,  drinking,  and  when  the  sheriff 
surrounded  the  shack  that  night  and  they  slipped  out  he 
was  the  hindermost.  Old  Bryan  grabbed  him  in  the 
dark. 

"  I  didn't  know  him  from  Adam  that  night,"  gasped 
Brooks ;  "  but  fire  I  had  to,  and  that  made  another, 
but  the  last.  They  got  me  away  somehow,  and  I  hid 
in  Einstein's  garret  nearly  two  weeks."  And  that 
summer  he  traced  and  followed  Mrs.  Granger,  and  she 
paid  some  money,  but  not  what  he  demanded  ;  still 
she  held  those  letters  of  his  sister's,  and  if  anything 
happened  to  them  or  to  her,  so  much  of  his  capital  was 
gone.  Annie  had  told  him  that  Blake  had  them  ;  that 
he  kept  them  for  her,  and  it  was  Blake  she  loved  and 
meant  to  marry.  That  made  Brooks  rob  Blake's  room 
at  Berksville.  "  I  didn't  get  poor  Julia's  letters,"  he 
said ;  "  but  I  did  get  a  package  of  Mrs.  Granger's  to 
him,  and  that  gave  me  a  new  hold.  I  demanded  more 
money  of  her,  and  she  put  him  on  my  track  instead  of 
a  lawyer.  I  know  her  now,  though  I  didn't  then.  I 
was  up  near  Leadville,  and  little  by  little  got  to  drink 
ing  and  gambling  again,  and  one  morning  I  woke  up 
in  a  strange  room,  feeling  horribly  rocky.  I  knew  I 
must  have  been  dead  drunk  the  night  before,  and  then 
it  flashed  over  me  that  I  had  been  robbed  ;  but  my 
money  was  all  right ;  the  packet  in  my  left  breast 
pocket  was  there;  th3  packet  in  the  right  was  thinned 
out  to  five  letters,  one  of  them  a  new  note.  It  said, 


400  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

'  You  got  drunk  last  night  and  I  took  care  of  you, 
— also  of  a  package  of  letters  belonging  to  me/  Noth 
ing  else  was  disturbed.  And  then  I  found  that  Biake 
had  been  there  nearly  a  week,  watching  me.  It  was 
the  only  way  he  could  ever  have  got  those  letters  with 
out  a  fight  or  exposure;  in  either  case  her  name  was 
blasted.  I  got  crazy  with  rage  at  being  outwitted  by 
that  cavalry  lieutenant,  who,  however,  never  dreamed 
what  he  had  left  behind, — my  sister's  letters.  He  never 
seemed  to  notice  them,  or,  if  he  did,  he  couldn't  have 
known  anything  about  who  she  was.  He  only  took 
the  packet  addressed  to  him  in  Mrs.  Granger's  hand. 
Then  I  followed  her  up  to  Cheyenne  and  threatened 
immediate  exposure  unless  a  big  sum  was  paid  at  once, 
and  I  was  recognized  there  by  some  fellows  who  had  an 
old  grudge  against  me ;  I  had  to  run  for  the  Hills,  but 
from  Dead  wood  I  demanded  instant  payment;  and  then 
came  a  letter  promising  everything,  and  begging  me 
to  meet  her  agent  at  Ouster ;  he  would  inquire  for  a 
Mr.  Baker.  I  went,  and  there  came  this  young  fellow 
Hollis.  He  had  no  more  come  to  pay  than  you  have ; 
he  had  come  to  demand  the  surrender  of  those  letters 
from  Julia.  He  was  her  dupe,  poor  fellow.  I  had  no 
grudge  against  him.  I  warned  him  not  to  make 
trouble.  I  didn't  want  to  hurt  him  ;  indeed,  I  tried  to 
get  away.  I  didn't  kill  him  ;  it  was  another  man  who 
fired  that  awful  shot ;  but  it  was  Mrs.  Granger,  by 
God  !  it  was  Mrs.  Granger  who  murdered  him  and  me." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  4Q1 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THAT  night  the  wind  began  moaning  among  the 
pines  again  and  whistling  through  the  crannies  and 
knot-holes  in  the  flimsy  old  frame  structure.  There 
was  gloom  and  silence  throughout  the  sparse  frontier 
settlement.  One  or  two  prospectors  and  stage  hands 
loafed  about  the  bar  across  the  way  and  grimly  eyed 
each  new-comer  from  the  direction  of  the  little  tavern, 
where  a  couple  of  soldiers  sauntered  up  and  down  be 
fore  the  door  and  where  the  office  lights  burned  dimly. 
From  an  upper  window  there  had  come,  soon  after 
nightfall,  the  sound  of  a  woman's  wailing,  loud  and 
desolate ;  a  wail  of  grief  and  wrath  combined,  like  the 
cry  of  some  wild  hunted  animal  whose  young  has  been 
slain  before  her  very  eyes.  A  hanger-on  about  the 
office  had  nodded  in  response  to  the  muttered  question 
of  one  of  the  troopers  as  he  came  forth  and  lunged 
across  the  snow-heaped  road  to  the  red  glare  of  the 
opposite  bar.  A  tall  officer,  with  pale,  bearded  face, 
presently  stepped  from  the  door- way,  at  sight  of  whom 
the  blue  overcoats  had  become  statuesque,  and  the  fur- 
gloved  hands  gone  up  in  salute. 

"  You  men  go  in  and  get  your  supper,"   was  the 

quiet  order.     "  I  shall  have  a  despatch  to  send  to  the 

cantonment  in  an  hour."     Then  he  began  pacing  slowly 

up  and  down  in  the  darkness,  his  head  bent  upon  his 

aa  34* 


402  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

breast,  his  hands  clasped  behind  him.  One  of  the 
employes  of  the  stage  company,  lolling  against  the 
stable-door  a  few  yards  below,  slouched  up  the  walk 
and  accosted  him. 

"That  feller's  gone,  I  suppose,  lieutenant?'7 

Mr.  Blake  bowed  assent,  but  went  slowly  on.  As 
he  returned,  the  roan  queried  again, — 

"How's  the  other? — the  gentleman  in  the  back 
room." 

"  The  doctors  say  it  is  simply  wonderful  that  he  has 
held  out  so  long." 

"  Ain't  there  no  hope  for  the  young  feller?  He's  a 
good  one." 

Blake  slowly  shook  his  head  and  continued  his  sol 
emn  promenade.  He  seemed  to  have  grown  a  year 
older  in  these  few  days  of  anxiety  and  care.  The  loud 
wailing  above  had  given  place  to  a  moaning  plaint,  as 
though  the  girl  had  wearied  of  her  very  outcries.  The 
door  again  opened  and  Leavitt  came  grimly  forth,  his 
lips  compressed,  his  brow  clouded.  Blake  turned 
sharply  about  and  evidently  sought  to  avoid  him. 
The  lawyer  looked  after  the  tall  officer  a  moment ; 
glanced  upward  at  the  hurrying,  lead-colored  clouds 
and  at  the  snow-flakes  slanting  down. 

"Will  the  stage  go  south  to-night?"  he  asked  the 
stableman,  who  was  softly  whistling.  The  man,  with 
ostentatious  deliberation,  finished  his  tune,  looking  un 
concernedly  up  the  road. 

"  No  reason  she  shouldn't  that  I  know  of." 

"  How  soon  ?" 

"  O-oh,  in  about  two  hours." 

"  I  want  three  places  inside." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  403 

"  Well,  you'll  have  to  ask  the  boss,  then." 

Gerald  Blake  had  caught  the  last  words  and  turned 
sharply  about.  The  next  moment  he  stepped  forward 
and  accosted  the  lawyer. 

"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  Leavitt,  does  your — entire  party 
return  to-night  ?" 

"  Provided  we  can  secure  seats,  and  I  am  told  there 
is  little  southward  travel  just  now,"  was  the  calm 
reply.  "  The  stage  stops  here  to  change  horses,  I  be 
lieve,  so  we  have  time  to  get  ready  after  it  comes  in." 

"  Will  you  excuse  my  inquiring,  sir,  whether  your 
client  knows  that  Lieutenant  Hollis  is  not  likely  to 
live  through  the  night  ?" 

"  Mrs.  Granger  has  heard  of  the  gentleman's  pre 
carious  condition  with  keen  sorrow.  She  has  been 
constant  and  solicitous  in  her  inquiries,  but  she  is 
powerless  to  help.  She  is  even  in  the  way  here,  and 
you'll  admit  this  is  hardly  a  congenial  spot  for  a  lady 
to  spend  another  night  in." 

"  But  one  moment,  Mr.  Leavitt,"  and  Blake's  face 
was  very  pale  and  his  lips  tremulous.  "  My  friend 
came  here  on  a  desperate  mission  in  her  behalf,  if  not 
actually  at  her  request.  He  is  sleeping  under  the  in 
fluence  of  morphine  now.  He  has  been  unconscious 
much  of  the  day,  yet  he  has  heard  she  was  coming,  and 
he  longs  to  see  her.  If  he  should  recover  consciousness 
again  and  ask  for  her,  I  would  not  like  to  have  to  tell 
him  she  had  been  here  and  had  gone." 

Leavitt  was  silent  a  moment.  Even  to  the  cold 
blooded,  pragmatical  man  of  the  law  there  was  an 
appeal  in  Blake's  words  he  could  not  face  without  a 
qualm. 


404  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"The  situation  is  most  distressing,"  he  said,  after 
a  pause.  "  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  explain  why,  but, 
just  as  my  client's  interests  demanded  that  we  should 
lose  no  time  in  coming  here  when  the  tidings  of  this 
man's  desperate  condition  reached  us,  so  is  it  that  her 
interests  require  her  to  leave  now.  Everything  that 
can  be  accomplished  by  her  coming  is  now  effected, — 
everything  that  can  be,  that  is, — and  it  is  best  she 
should  go.  If  there  was  anything  she  could  do,  or  if 
there  is  anything  she  could  send,  to  alleviate  the  suffer 
ings  of  her  unfortunate  young  friend,  doubtless  she 
will  be  very  glad." 

"  By  heaven  !  Mr.  Leavitt.  It  is  not  possible  that 
Mrs.  Granger  knows  how  critical  his  condition  is,  and 
that  she  is  going  away  knowing  it.  Has  she — do  you 
mean  she  has  consented  to  go  at  once — this  evening  ?" 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Blake.  She  is  advised  by  Doctor 
Grimes  that  the  sooner  she  gets  home  the  better.  In 
her  highly  morbid  and  sensitive  condition  the  sights  and 
sounds  around  this  wretched  spot  bring  back  all  too 
sharply  the  tragedy  which  so  recently  blighted  her  life. 
She  may  break  down  any  moment." 

But  Blake  would  hear  no  more.  Turning  sharply, 
he  burst  his  impetuous  way  into  the  office  and  asked 
for  Grimes;  and  Grimes  had  been  called  to  the  bed 
side  of  Mr.  Hollis,  who  was  moaning  in  delirium,  the 
attendant  said.  He  sought  and  found  the  other  doctor, 
and  of  him  he  demanded  if  he  could  see  Mrs.  Granger 
at  once.  A  look  of  surprise  came  into  the  physician's 
face. 

"  Til  ask  presently,  Blake,"  he  said.  "  She  is  sooth 
ing  and  comforting  that  maid  of  hers  just  now, — 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  405 

getting  her  ready  for  the  journey.  The  girl  was  the 
wife  of  that  man  Brooks,  as  you  probably  know  by 
this  time.  Queer  how  some  women  can  mourn  a  fellow 
who  has  done  nothing  but  abuse  and  neglect  them !" 

It  was  half  an  hour  before  the  answer  came.  Mrs. 
Granger  declared  herself  so  prostrate,  so  agitated,  that 
it  would  be  impossible  for  her  to  see  any  one  but  her 
medical  and  legal  advisers.  Would  Mr.  Blake  write  a 
note  ?  She  would  be  glad  to  read  anything  her  friends 
might  wish  to  say  in  her  distress. 

And  there,  in  that  creaking  shed,  in  that  snow-swept 
valley  among  the  hills  of  Dakota,  Gerald  Blake  made 
his  last  formal  appeal,  wrote  his  last  letter  to  the 
woman  who  had  been  the  love  and  glory  of  his  younger 
life. 

"  He  is  hovering  between  life  and  death.  His  life 
hangs  on  a  thread,  and  his  every  word  is  of  you,  his 
every  thought  is  for  you.  He  has  been  buoyed  up 
only  by  the  wild  hope  of  seeing  you ;  for  the  doctor 
told  him — God  forgive  the  blunder ! — you  were  com 
ing.  When  he  recovers  consciousness,  and  I  know 
that  he  will,  and  finds  you  have  gone  without  one  word, 
look,  or  touch  for  the  man  who  risked  his  life,  his  good 
name,  everything  he  had  in  the  world,  in  your  service, 
— it  will  kill  him. 

"GERALD  BLAKE." 

And  this  note  he  took  to  the  door  of  her  room, 
knocked  loudly,  and  handed  in. 

An  hour  later  there  came  a  summons  from  Grimes. 
Hollis  was  rousing,  had  asked  for  him,  and  Blake, 


406  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

who  had  been  feverishly  pacing  the  pathway  without, 
hastened  to  the  bed  whereon  lay  the  wasting  form  of 
his  comrade ;  and  the  light  of  recognition  was  in  poor 
Tommy's  eyes,  a  feeble  hand  crept  forth  and  a  ghost 
of  the  old  smile  seemed  to  flicker  for  an  instant  on 
his  face. 

"  Blake,  old  man,  you've  been  sticking  to  me  like  a 

— like "  and  Hollis  paused.  Simile  was  only  one 

of  his  many  weaknesses  now. 

"Like  a  burr — burr — burrother,  Tommy,  as  Dun 
dreary  would  say,"  grinned  Blake,  with  twitching 
mouth,  as  he  took  the  wasted  hand  in  his  warm  brown 
palms.  He  winked  hard  to  drive  back  the  tears.  He 
bit  into  his  lip  to  still  its  quivering.  "  How  goes  it 
now,  my  lad  ?  Feel  more  like  yourself  after  your 
nap?" 

"  Legs,  I've  been  dreaming,  I  reckon, — dreaming  I 
heard  a  woman  crying  over  me.  Has  she  got  here  ?" 

"  All  dreaming,  Tom.  Nobody's  going  to  do  any 
crying  over  you  for  many  a  long  year,  if  Grimes  and 
I  can  help  it.  Think  you  could  drink  a  little  some 
thing? 

A  weary  shake  of  the  head. 

"  But,  Blake,  didn't  they  wire  she'd  get  here, — or 
was  coming  here  with  Grimes?  Surely  I  heard  that." 

"Must  have  dreamed  it,  Tommy.  I  don't  know 
who  could  have  been  fool  enough  to  tell  you  that." 
He  drew  one  hand  and  hid  his  eyes  an  instant,  and 
from  this  covert  glared  at  Grimes,  lurking  back  by 
the  doorway  where  Hollis  could  not  see  him.  The 
door  creaked  on  its  hinges.  Grimes  softly  slipped 
away. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  407 

"  It  seems  so  late,  Legs.  When  did  Grimes  come?" 
."Oh,  while  you  were  asleep;  more  than  four  hours 
ago" — «  God  forgive  me  the  lie ! — more  than  twenty- 
four,"  groaned  poor  Blake  to  himself. 

"  But,  honest — Didn't  I — really — hear  a  woman  cry 
ing?  Is  he  all  right — that  man  Brooks?" 

"  He's  all  right,  Tommy.     Don't  you  worry." 

"  I  should  hate  to  die  with  his  death  to  answer  for, 
too,  Blake.  But  it  wouldn't  have  been  murder.  You 
know  what  a  scoundrel  he  was.  She  told  you,  didn't 
she?" 

"  Worst  kind  of  a  whelp,  from  all  I  heard, 
Tommy." 

"  He  told  me  when  I  demanded  those  letters  that 
he'd  given  them  all  to  you  at  Leadville,  Blake ;  but  I 
knew  he  was  lying.  Think  of  the  awful  position  in 
which  she  was  placed.  You  can't  blame  her  now, 
Blake,  though  you  did  at  Denver ;  that's  what  made 
me  so  angry.  I  suppose  the  rest  was  only  poking  fun 
at  me,  though  I  took  it  so  much  to  heart." 

"  Tommy,  I  never  poked  fun  at  you, — to  her,  at 
least, — in  all  my  life.  I  never, — before  God, — never 
said  anything  you  accused  me  of  the  other  day." 

"  Perhaps  she  misunderstood,"  was  the  weary  reply. 
"  She  has  had  horrible  suffering.  You  might  have 
spared  a  woman  such  a  blow,  even  if  you  were  hurt, 
Legs." 

"  What  blow,  Tommy  ?  Look  here,  old  boy,  that 
medicine's  gone  to  your  head.  I  mustn't  let  you  talk 
too  much  ;  you'll  get  flighty  again."  And  Blake  looked 
wistfully  to  the  door.  His  lips  moved  as  though  he 
would  whisper  "  Grimes,"  but  Grimes  had  stolen  away. 


408  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  No,  Legs,  I'm  clear-headed  enough ;  only  so  weak. 
They've  got  him  where  he  can't  escape,  have  they  ?" 

"  You  bet  they  have !" 

"  And  the  letters,— his  sister's  letters  ?" 

"  I  never  heard  about  them,  Tom.  What  have  they 
to  do  with  it  ?" 

"Why,  yes,  Blake;  the  letters  his  sister,  the  first 
Mrs.  Granger,  wrote, — those  that  threatened  her." 

Far  up  the  road  there  came  the  sound  of  loud-crack 
ing  whip.  Over  the  moan  of  the  wind  rose  the  distant 
rumble  of  wheels. 

"  The  stage  ?"  whispered  Hollis,  an  eager  light  in 
his  eyes. 

"  The  stage  from  the  north,  man  !  But  what  do  you 
mean  ?  What  first  Mrs.  Granger  ?" 

"  Why,  his  wife,  the  one  that  ran  away  from  him 
in  New  Orleans — Brooks's  sister,  you  know.  She  told 
you  all  about  it — Madeleine — at  Denver — when  that 
fellow  tried  to  make  her  suppose  his  sister  would  tell 
the  truth  at  last.  She'd  been  alive  all  those  years. 
Madeleine  told  you,  for  she  said  that  you  answered 
that  it  was  all  true,  and  that  you  believed  that  she'd 
known  it  all  along ; — that  she  knew  it  when  she  threw 
you  over  and  married  Granger." 

"  Hollis  !     Are  you  mad  ?" 

"  Mad  ?  no  !  Here's  her  letter  to  him  bidding  him 
meet  me  here  and  give  me  his  sister's  letters.  It's 
blood-stained  now.  Read  it.  It's  one  thing  I  got 
from  him,  at  least." 

But  Hollis  never  noted  the  staring  eyes  and  livid 
face  before  him,  as  Blake  strove  to  read  those  hurried 
lines,  penned  in  the  hand  he  knew  and  had  loved  so  well. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  409 

Out  in  the  passage-way  the  stairs  began  to  creak. 
Some  one  was  coming  down.  Aloft  there  was  heard 
the  sound  of  suppressed  sobbing — the  swish  of  a 
woman's  trailing  skirts.  Without,  the  jovial  sound 
of  the  driver's  voice  hailing  the  knot  of  loungers,  the 
plunging  hoofs  of  the  mettlesome  team,  the  clatter  of 
the  stage  as  it  drew  up  in  front  of  the  station,  the 
greetings  of  sturdy  Black  Hillers,  one  to  another,  as 
the  few  passengers  tumbled  out  and  went  in  search  of 
creature  comfort.  Blake  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"  Hollis,  dear  old  fellow,  I  know  nothing  of  this. 
She  never  told  me  of  any  such  affair.  I  never  in  the 
world  said  such  things  as  you  tell  me  I  was  accused 
of.  You  must  have  dreamed  that,  Tommy !  She 
couldn't  have  said  that  of  me  !" 

"  She  did,  Legs.  I  believed  it ;  but  I  can't  now, 
when  you  deny  it.  Then  he's  got  that  woman's  letters 
yet.  You — you  must  get  them,  old  man,  for  she'll  be 
here  soon,  and  I'm  all  out  of  the  fight  now." 

Blake  never  stopped  to  answer.  Two  strides  took 
him  to  the  door.  Two  women,  one  heavily  veiled,  the 
other  bowed  and  weeping,  were  going  down  the  narrow 
stairway,  Leavitt  in  assiduous  attendance,  Grimes  fol 
lowing.  They  never  turned  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs, 
as  he  still  hoped  one,  at  least,  might  do.  The  loung 
ers  at  the  office  drew  silently  back.  Leavitt  led  his 
charges  straight  to  the  entrance  and  forth  into  the 
windy  night  where  the  new  team  was  being  quickly 
buckled  in.  Already  the  driver  was  clambering  to  his 
perch.  Blake  fairly  sprang  along  the  narrow  hall. 

"  Grimes,  go  in  there  to  Hollis  ;  I  must  leave  him  a 
moment ;  I  must  speak  with  this — this  lady." 
s  35 


410  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Mr.  Blake,  I  protest,"  interposed  Leavitt,  as  the 
tall  officer  stepped  to  the  side  of  the  veiled  woman  who 
clung  closer  to  the  lawyer's  arm.  "  Mrs.  Granger  has 
undergone  far  too  much  agitation  and  fatigue.  She 
cannot  be  further  molested." 

But  Blake  would  not  listen. 

"  Answer  me,  Mrs.  Granger,"  he  said,  with  stern 
emphasis.  "If  ever  man  was  done  to  death  in  a 
woman's  cause,  here  lies  poor  Hollis,  craving  only  one 
word  from  you.  He  is  conscious.  He  has  told  me 
the  whole  story.  He  knows  that  you  were  to  be  here 
this  day.  I  adjure  you,  do  not  go  until  you  have  seen 
him."  But  she  only  shrank  and  looked  appealingly  to 
her  legal  friend. 

"  Answer  me,  Mrs.  Granger !"  Blake  again  de 
manded. 

"Oh,  how  can  you  reproach  me?"  she  almost 
moaned.  "  I  begged  him  not  to  come.  I  warned  him 
against  such  a  rash  undertaking.  I  made  him  promise 
he  would  not  do  so.  He  disobeyed  me.  I  would  do 
anything — anything  that  would  be  of  the  faintest  use; 
but  my  physician  forbids.  The  stage  waits,"  she  pite- 
ously  faltered. 

"  The  stage  waits  !  Yes,  and  you  are  actress  to  the 
last.  Here,  by  heaven,  is  one  letter  you  have  forgotten, 
— the  letter  you  yourself  wrote,  bidding  that  scoundrel 
not  to  fail  to  meet  your  agent  here — the  agent  you 
try  to  deny  to  me.  What  agent  had  you  but  poor 
Hollis  whom  you  have  murdered  ?  I  pray  heaven  ] 
may  never  set  eyes  on  you  again.  Go  !  In  God's 
name,  go  !" 

"Mr.  Blake"  said  Leavitt,  fiercely,  "this  lady  is 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  411 

under  my  protection,  and  such  language  is  not  to  be 
tolerated  ! — Annie,  stop  that  whimpering  and  help  your 
mistress  in.  Come,  Mrs.  Granger,  come." 

And  so,  between  them,  they  bundled  their  frail, 
shrinking  charge  into  the  dark  interior.  The  girl 
would  have  turned  again  for  one  last  look  at  the  dim 
lights  in  the  upper  window,  where  lay  the  form  of  the 
man  she  loved,  but  Leavitt  almost  roughly  seized  and 
thrust  her  to  the  step,  forcing  her  to  follow  her  mis 
tress,  then  sprang  after  them  without  another  word. 
The  landlord  banged  to  the  door  and  sharply  turned 
the  latch. 

"  Quick,  now  !  Jim,"  he  called  to  the  driver.  Evi 
dently  the  host  had  had  his  instructions.  Crack  went 
the  whip  ;  the  bays  plunged  at  their  collars,  and,  with 
sudden  jerk,  the  old  red  stage  bowled  away  down  the 
frozen  road  ;  and  Gerald  Blake  stood  there,  ankle-deep 
in  the  snow,  gazing  after  the  dim,  twinkling  lights, 
with  that  crushed  and  blood-stained  letter  in  his  hand 
and  a  look  on  his  thin  and  careworn  face  that  was  not 
good  to  see. 

The  last  faint  rattle  of  bit  and  trace-chain,  the  last 
faint  rumble  of  wheels,  died  away  in  the  darkness. 
The  little  knot  of  loungers  drifted  apart,  some  into  the 
office,  some  over  to  the  lighted  bar,  and  still  the  tall 
soldier  stood  there,  gazing  fixedly  down  the  road.  Then, 
when  every  sound  was  hushed  except  the  clink  of 
glasses  across  the  way,  he  drew  from  an  inner  pocket 
a  case  of  worn,  faded  leather;  took  therefrom,  after 
some  effort,  an  old-fashioned  ferrotype,  smoothed  out 
and  stowed  in  its  place  the  letter  he  had  held  in  his 
hand,  then  raised  the  picture  to  the  light  streaming 


412  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

from  the  office  window.  One  instant  there  smiled  at 
him  the  lovely  face  of  a  girl  with  soft  gray  eyes  and  a 
mass  of  wavy  hair.  Then,  with  sudden,  fierce  gesture, 
it  was  bent,  twisted,  crushed,  creased,  doubled  into 
dozens  of  disfiguring  folds,  until  not  a  semblance  of 
itself  remained ;  then  hurled  into  a  rut  in  the  icy  road 
and  ground  beneath  his  heavy  boot-heel. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  413 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

SUMMER-TIDE  again,  and  how  the  vines  and  the 
little  shade-trees  have  grown  since  August  last !  Surely 
this  is  Mrs.  Stannard's  piazza.  Here  are  grouped  half 
a  dozen  of  the  ladies  of  the  garrison.  They  have 
changed  but  slightly  since  last  we  saw  them,  for  array 
women  seem  to  have  found  that  for  which  de  Leon 
sought  in  vain — the  magic  fount  of  youth  eternal. 
There  are  strands  of  gray  above  Mrs.  Waldron's  kindly 
eyes.  There  are  those  who  dare  to  say  that  Mrs. 
Freeman's  lovely  face  has  lost  a  trifle  of  its  bloom — 
that  Mrs.  Truscott's  golden-brown  hair  has  parted 
with  something  of  its  sheen  and  shimmer  and  is  now  a 
duller  brown.  There  are  even  those  who  dare  to  hint 
that  that  exquisite  blonde,  Mrs.  Hay,  is  growing  stout, 
and  that  the  Worth  dresses  she  brought  over  from 
Paris  the  year  after  that  lovely  wedding  are  utterly 
useless  to  her,  even  now.  Mrs.  Wilkins,  whose  laugh 
we  can  hear  over  there  on  the  colonel's  piazza,  is 
unquestionably  stouter;  but  a  jollier  creature  never 
lived,  nor  one  much  more  thoroughly  popular.  That 
laugh  of  hers  can  be  heard  half-way  down  the  line, 
and  every  one  feels  like  echoing,  for  hearts  are  light 
and  joyous  now,  for  the  — th,  which  has  been  away 
for  months,  is  coming  home.  Mrs.  Stannard's  smile 
is  something  that  reflects  the  gladness  of  her  heart, 

35* 


414  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

even  as  the  sunshine  dances  from  the  ripples  of  a  sum 
mer  lake.  Who  could  stop  to  note  that  the  lines  about 
her  mobile  lips  were  just  a  trifle  deeper?  Mrs. 
Truscott's  glorious  eyes  are  even  lovelier  than  when 
first  they  gazed  along  the  serried  line  of  the  — th  at  arid 
old  Camp  Sandy.  She  and  Mrs.  Freeman  are  deep  in 
a  comparison  of  notes  on  needlework,  at  which  both 
are  engaged,  yet  every  now  and  then  their  watchful 
glances  are  directed  across  the  road  to  where,  in  noisy 
glee,  the  youngsters  of  the  garrison  are  flying  about, — 
even  boy  Jack  toddling  around  with  a  croquet  mallet 
in  tow.  There  is  no  trace  discernible  of  advancing 
years  among  these  fair  matrons  of  the  frontier,  unless  it 
be  in  the  accessions  that  have  come  to  their  ranks;  for 
here  come  two  or  three  who  were  not  known  at  Russell 
in  "  the  summer  of  our  discontent/7  as  Mrs.  Turner  had 
called  it.  Poor  Mrs.  Turner !  They  were  speaking 
of  her  but  a  moment  ago.  Two  big  tears  are  even  now 
clinging  to  the  long  lashes  of  Mrs.  Raymond's  dark 
eyes.  It  is  three  years,  not  one,  since  Mrs.  Turner 
essayed  the  rdle  of  Mrs.  George  d'Alroy  in  the  tailor- 
made  suit,  and  those  three  years  have  brought  their 
changes.  Odd  !  There  have  been  no  theatricals  in  all 
that  time.  "  Caste"  was  the  final  essay  of  the  dramatic 
club  of  the  — th  for  many  a  year.  They  have  been 
talking  of  that,  too.  It  is  a  perfect  afternoon,  late  on 
a  cloudless  August  day.  Even  the  Cheyenne  zephyr 
eeems  drowsing  somewhere  up  among  the  gorges  to  the 
west,  and  the  sunshine  pours  down  in  splendor  and 
radiance  upon  the  gray-green  carpet  of  the  parade, 
glints  and  sparkles  from  the  new  white  railings  of  the 
band-stand,  and  intensifies  and  brightens  the  colors  in 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  415 

the  great  garrison  flag  which  Waldron — loveliest  and 
most  thoughtful  of  commanding  officers,  say  all  the 
ladies — has  ordered  displayed  to-day,  in  honor  of  the 
news  that  he  is  soon  to  be  called  upon  to  fall  back  to 
second  place,  for  Atherton  and  the  — th  are  homeward 
bound.  Out  at  the  stand  the  bandsmen  have  been 
playing  delicious  music.  Here  about  the  parade  are 
gathered  the  many  vehicles  from  town.  Here  on  some 
of  the  piazzas  some,  at  least,  of  the  ladies  who  drove 
out  to  hear  the  music  have  been  made  welcome  and  are 
cosily  chatting  with  their  garrison  friends.  Here  is 
our  old  acquaintance,  Mrs.  Morris,  who  has  brought 
her  sweet  young  neighbor,  the  rector's  wife,  to  return 
some  calls  at  the  post,  and  everybody  has  been  remark 
ing  how  much  Mrs.  Hughes  was  benefited  by  her 
sojourn  at  the  sea-shore  the  year  before,  and  no  one 
ever  mentions  how  liberally  the  fort  had  contributed  to 
the  fund  that  made  that  expensive  trip  a  possibility. 
Hughes  is  still  the  stalwart  soldier  of  the  cross,  cease 
less  as  ever  in  his  fight  against  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil, — and  he  knows  more  about  the  wiles  of  the 
latter  than  he  did  three  years  ago. 

Most  of  the  carriages  are  halted  by  the  roadside. 
All  of  them,  in  deference  to  post  custom,  refrain  from 
noisy  or  rapid  motion  while  the  band  performs ;  but 
several  of  the  number  take  a  quiet,  and  one  of  them  a 
showy,  trot. around  the  big  quadrangle  during  the  in 
terlude.  A  very  "  swell"  equipage  is  this  that  comes 
bowling  up  the  road  at  the  instant.  Two  gorgeous  bays, 
with  heads  held  very  high  by  suspicious  check-reins, 
high  steppers  and  splendidly  matched ;  their  harness 
gleams  with  polish  ;  the  buckles,  chains  and  bosses  with 


416  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

glistening  plate.  The  reins  are  snowy  white  ;  the  open 
wagon  is  a  gem.  Two  women  sit  on  the  high  front 
seat ;  a  small  tiger  in  top-boots  and  cockaded  hat  on  the 
back.  She  who  holds  the  ribbons  and  drives  with 
practised  hand  is  a  Juno,  a  superbly  handsome  woman. 
She  who  sits  by  her  side  is  an  admirable  foil.  Lower 
down  the  road,  as  they  pass,  two  officers  rise  and  raise 
their  caps,  then  subside  into  their  chairs.  The  response 
to  their  salute  is  a  bow  and  smile  that  make  a  combina 
tion  irresistible, — certainly  indescribable, — all  grace,  all 
graciousness.  The  fair  driver  converses  perpetually 
with  her  prim,  precise  companion.  Her  lips  very  dis 
tinctly  can  be  seen  in  rapid,  ceaseless  motion,  but  her 
eyes  keep  wary  watch  of  her  horses'  ears  and  of  every 
window,  door,  gateway,  and  piazza  along  the  row.  She 
misses  nothing  that  can  be  seen. 

"  Color  and  horses'  heads  both  too  high  to  be  natu 
ral/'  remarks  one  of  the  subsiding  soldiers,  as  the  team 
goes  by. 

"  Yes ;  but  look  at  that  figure ;  handsomer  than  ever, 
by  Jove !" 

Up  the  row  Mrs.  Morris  and  Mrs.  Hughes  are  just 
coming  forth  from  the  Stannards'  hospitable  doorway, 
within  which  they  have  been  refreshed  with  tea.  They 
have  another  call  to  make,  and  yet,  before  they  go, 
many  adieux  to  pay  to  the  fair  coterie  gathered  on  the 
gallery.  All  have  risen,  and  the  visitors,  laughing  and 
chatting,  have  just  reached  the  gate  and  are  sallying 
forth  when  this  stylish  team  comes  prancing  up  the 
road.  Both  ladies  instantly  whirl  about  and  bethink 
themselves  of  something  that  they  had  forgotten  to  say. 
Their  backs  are  towards  the  road  as  the  wagon  flashes 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  417 

by,  its  gracious  charioteer  bending  far  forward,  bowing 
with  a  sweeping  inclination  of  the  queenly  form  and 
a  smile  that  is  winsomeness  itself,  though  necessarily 
somewhat  comprehensive  and  prolonged.  Some  of  the 
ladies  at  the  Stannards'  pleasantly  bow.  Two  or  three 
smile,  though  rather  vaguely.  Some  are  engrossed  in 
conversation  and  do  not  see  the  lady  at  all,  until  she 
has  gone  by.  Then  Mrs.  Morris  takes  her  departure, 
and  there  is  a  moment's  silence.  Some  lovely  eyes  peep 
through  the  interlacing  vine-leaves  after  the  glistening 
equipage,  and  watch  the  repetition  of  the  bow  and  smile, 
as  the  vehicle  whirls  by  the  colonel's  gate,  and  then 
note  the  speed  and  action  of  the  beautiful  team  as  it 
goes  spinning  around  towards  the  tower. 

"  She  does  drive  beautifully,"  says  Mrs.  Raymond, 
at  last,  with  a  half  sigh.  "  And  isn't  it  marvellous 
how  little  she  is  altered,  after  all  she  has  gone  through ! 
Did  you  notice  how  Mrs.  Morris  turned  her  back, — 
and  Mrs.  Hughes  ?" 

"  Oh !  Mrs.  Morris  never  speaks  to  her  at  all,  and 
Mrs.  Hughes  cannot  bear  her,  though,  of  course,  as 
the  rector's  wife,  she  has  to  be  polite,"  declares  one  fair 
authority  who  knows  whereof  she  speaks.  "  It  was 
her  flirtation  with  Mr.  Morris  that  brought  Lawyer 
Leavitt  to  his  knees.  I  don't  believe  he  wanted  to 
marry  her  at  first ;  but  when  she  began  fascinating  the 
banker  it  was  too  much  for  the  squire,  as  it  was  for 
the  banker's  wife.  It  serves  that  glum  old  piece  of 
parchment  just  right.  They  say  he  treated  his  first 
wife  shamefully,  and  now  he  is  being  led  with  a  ring 
in  his  nose." 

"  Well,  now,  do  you  know  I  rather  like  Mr.  Leavitt, 
bb 


418  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  we  certainly  ought  to  feel  a  sense  of  obligation  to 
him,"  chimed  in  Mrs.  Stannard,  laughing.  "  She  might 
have  married  in  the  — th,  and  then  where  would  we 
have  been  ?" 

"  Indeed,  she  wouldn't  have  stayed  in  the  — th !" 
promptly  asserts  a  young  and  impulsive  matron.  "  She 
would  never  go  knocking  about  from  pillar  to  post, 
even  with  the  loveliest  regiment  that  ever  was  made. 
The  — th  would  do  to  flirt  with,  perhaps,  and  Fve  no 
doubt  when  they  get  back  she'll  be  setting  her  traps 
for  some  of  them  again." 

"  You  don't  suppose  any  of  them  will  pay  her  any 
attention  now,  Mrs.  Dana,  after  such  experiences  as — 
well,  as  Captain  Blake  and  poor  Mr.  Hollis  had  ?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know ;  men  are  such  fools  sometimes." 

Men  are.  There's  no  doubt  about  it,  Mrs.  Dana, 
and  for  shallower  women  than  Madeleine  Granger 
Leavitt.  If  she  ever  cared  for  anybody  besides  herself, 
it  was,  as  Mrs.  Wilkins  more  than  once  had  said,  for 
Leggy  Blake  when  he  was  young  and  "  good  lookun." 
But  that  was  years  ago,  and  even  Blake  had  long  since 
ceased  his  attentions  in  that  quarter.  Perhaps  it  was 
the  long  illness  that  followed  his  winter  at  the  canton 
ment  that  so  changed  the  whilom  devotee.  Blake  was 
very  low  for  several  weeks,  and  Billy  Ray  came  back 
from  the  East,  and  went  up  to  the  Hills  and  fetched 
his  old  chum  and  comrade  down  to  Sidney  ;  and  almost 
the  first  experience  Marion  Sanford,  Mrs.  Ray,  enjoyed 
in  her  new  army  home  was  that  of  nursing  her  husband's 
devoted  friend  and  comrade  back  to  health  and  strength 
again.  It  took  many  a  week  to  make  much  of  him, 
and  then  the  doctors  had  recommended  a  long  sea- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  419 

voyage.  And  so  it  was  that  "  Legs"  went  abroad  and 
had  his  long  voyage  and  afterwards  spent  part  of  the 
winter  in  Riviera,  knocking  about  for  a  few  months 
with  the  Freemans,  and  that  was  the  best  thing,  up 
to  this  time,  that  ever  happened  to  Blake. 

Again  the  stylish  team  comes  flashing  up  the  drive. 
This  time  the  officers  on  the  veranda  do  not  rise 
and  bow,  but  simply  touch  their  caps.  They  note 
with  quiet  amusement,  however,  the  elaborate  perfec 
tion  of  the  bow,  the  profound  inclination,  the  enchant 
ing  smile  with  which  Mrs.  Leavitt  favors  a  little  party 
of  four  just  strolling  up  from  the  lower  end  of  the 
garrison.  The  backs  of  this  quartette  are  towards  the 
equipage  as  it  advances.  They  have  to  glance  over 
their  left  shoulders  to  see  it.  The  glance  is  a  tribute 
to  the  appointment  of  Mrs.  Leavitt's  new  "  turnout," 
perhaps,  but  it  necessarily  includes  the  occupant.  Two 
young  officers  raise  their  caps,  the  foremost  with  no 
inclination  of  the  head  whatever.  Two  young  and 
lovely  women  bow  with  evident  deference  to  the  de 
mands  of  the  situation;  but  the  bows  prompt  Mr.  Fos 
ter,  the  rearmost  of  the  two  officers,  to  remark  to  himself 
that  if  Muldoon  had  put  half  as  much  ice  in  the 
lemonade  of  which  they  had  just  been  partaking,  the 
refreshment  would  have  been  far  more  palatable.  But 
the  fair  charioteer  gives  no  sign  of  distress.  Again, 
left  shoulder  leading,  with  the  graceful  head  turned  still 
farther  towards  the  four,  she  bends  low;  she  smiles 
sweetly ;  she  recovers  with  slow,  languorous  grace ; 
then  skilfully  brings  her  prancing  team  to  a  walk  and 
guides  them  into  a  vacant  space  close  to  the  railing, 
and  becomes  absorbed  at  once  in  joyous  chat  with  her 


420  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

companion  and  in  the  music  of  the  band.  She  hears 
a  sudden  bubbling  of  irrepressible  laughter  from  the 
two  fair  girls  she  has  passed.  She  notes  unerringly 
how  quickly  it  is  suppressed.  She  knows  full  well 
that  Foster  has  said  something  ridiculous  at  her  ex 
pense,  but  still  she  gives  no  sign.  The  boy  in  his 
jovial  way  has  merely  sought  to  impress  the  ladies 
with  his  wit.  He  refers  to  that  sweeping  salutation  as 
a  "  left  forward  fours  left"  sort  of  bow.  There  is  noth 
ing  either  malicious  or  harmful  in  it,  but  every  breath 
seems  to  bear  to  the  tortured  woman's  ears  only  malice, 
only  hatred  and  contempt.  Such  things  crowd  into 
and  fill  to  overflowing  the  bitter  cup  she  quaffs  with 
every  hour  of  her  life.  In  public  she  is  forever 
smiling,  except  at  church ;  and  even  there,  mingling 
with  the  mien  of  rapt  devotion,  the  corners  of  her  soft, 
rosy  lips  twitch  upwards  like  those  in  the  earlier 
pictures  of  that  arch  dissembler,  Talleyrand. 

The  ladies  at  Mrs.  Stannard's  hear  the  sudden  burst 
of  laughter,  and  there  is  a  not  unnatural  craning  of 
necks.  It  is  a  bride  who  comes.  There  is  no  dissent 
ing  voice  to  Mrs.  Raymond's  declaration  that  Mrs. 
Hayne  is  simply  exquisite.  She  comes  tripping  happily 
along,  leaning  on  her  husband's  arm.  He  is  a  resolute- 
looking  young  fellow  with  steely  blue  eyes,  clear-cut 
features,  and  "grit"  and  character  in  every  motion. 
The  officers  again  raise  their  caps  and  bow  with  pleas 
ant  greeting  to  the  charming  group  under  the  vine- 
covered  porch.  Mrs.  Hayne's  sweet  face  is  wreathed 
in  smiles.  "  We'll  stop  on  the  way  back.  We're  going 
up  to  Mrs.  Atherton's,"  is  the  answer  to  the  pressing 
invitation  to  come  in  at  once.  All  eyes  are  on  them 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  421 

as  the  four  move  blithely  by.  The  tall,  slender, 
elegantly-dressed  girl,  with  the  wonderful  brown  eyes 
and  brows  and  sweeping  lashes,  glances  backward  over 
her  shoulder  and  kisses  her  hand  to  Mrs.  Freeman, 
who  is  peering  lovingly  at  her  through  the  vines. 

"  I  do  not  wonder  that  Mr.  Foster  is  madly  in  love 
with  her,"  is  presently  the  remark  of  Mrs.  Raymond. 
"  I  declare,  I'm  almost  ready  to  do  battle  with  you, 
Mrs.  Waldron.  You  did  more  than  anybody  to  make 
that  other  match  and  win  Nellie  Travers  for  the  Riflers, 
and  now — now  I'm  awfully  afraid  Mr.  Foster  will  pre 
vail  before  the  — th  gets  back,  and  we'll  lose  another 
prize." 

"  Do  you  think  she  cares  anything  for  him,  Mrs. 
Freeman?"  asks  one  young  wife  and  mother,  with 
beaming  eyes. 

Mrs.  Freeman  is  bending  over  that  dainty  needle 
work. 

"  She  certainly  has  told  me  nothing  about  it,"  is  the 
decided  answer,  while  the  fair  speaker  cocks  her  head 
on  one  side,  smooths  the  pattern  upon  her  knee,  and 
regards  it  critically. 

"  Are  they  going  to  stay  much  longer — her  uncle 
and  aunt,  I  mean  ?"  asks  Mrs.  Dana.  "  I  do  want 
to  help  entertain  them  in  some  way,  but  how  can  I, 
with  only  one  room  and  a  kitchen  ?  If  she  were  to 
marry  Mr.  Foster,  now,  they  would  have  to  get  along 
with  even  less,  unless  they  rebuilt  those  quarters  across 
the  parade." 

"  Nonsense  !  They  could  live  in  one  of  the  lovely 
houses  her  guardian  is  building  on  that  property  in 
town.  They  could  live  in  a  dozen  places  if  they  liked, 

36 


422  CAPTAIN  BLAKL. 

and  he  would  be  a  goose  to  stay  in  the  army,"  is  Mrs. 
Raymond's  reply. 

"  Mrs.  Freeman.  Did  you  ever  hear  how  such  a 
queer  character  as  old  Bryan  ever  succeeded  in  marry 
ing  into  so — why — superior  a  family?  Mr.  Crawford 
and  his  wife  are  charming." 

"Yes;  you  see  we  got  to  know  them  quite  well 
after  taking  Nannie  East  with  us,  and,  being  together 
quite  a  while  abroad,  Mr.  Crawford  told  Captain  Free 
man  a  good  deal  about  the  matter.  His  sister  was  a 
mere  school-girl  when  she  fell  in  love  with  Bryan,  who 
was  a  very  fine-looking  man  in  those  days,  and  almost 
the  only  young  one  in  the  village  where  they  lived. 
She  was  well  educated,  but  he  was  a  clerk  in  the  village 
store,  and  fully  fifteen  years  older  than  herself;  yet  it 
was  a  love-match.  The  Crawfords  were  opposed  to  it 
at  first,  but  they  were  very  poor  then,  and  Bryan  was 
soon  to  have  a  share  in  the  business.  He  was  bound 
to  make  money,  even  if  he  was  illiterate.  They  were 
married  and  lived  there  until  the  war  broke  out.  Mr. 
Bryan  had  gone  out  West,  buying  lands  in  Nebraska 
about  that  time,  but  by  and  by  he  got  the  war  fever  and 
served  all  through  in  the  cavalry.  Then  he  gave  up 
his  business  East  and  moved  out  here  before  the  railway 
was  half  built;  but  he  had  aged  very  rapidly,  and 
seemed  to  have  no  thought  for  anything  but  money- 
making  for  years,  except  when  he  was  on  those  period 
ical  sprees  of  his.  It  took  poor  Mrs.  Bryan  away  from 
her  home  and  kindred,  but  it  made  Nannie  rich." 

And  is  this  possible?  Is  the  tall,  graceful  girl 
standing  there  at  the  Athertons'  gate  the  "  Prairie 
Nan"  who  so  often  came  galloping  by  in  that  shabby 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  423 

riding  habit,  frontier- made,  not  four  years  agone  ? 
Mrs.  Atherton  is  taking  in  every  item  of  her  toilet  at 
this  moment,  with  eyes  that  express  infinite  apprecia 
tion  and  undoubted  pleasure.  She  thoroughly  approves 
of  Nan.  She  is  one  of  her  stanchest  friends.  What  will 
not  two  years  under  foreign  masters  do  for  a  girl,  she 
thinks, — even  girls  who  cannot  compare  with  Nannie? 
So  once  again  the  "  prairie  waif,"  as  she  still  laugh 
ingly  speaks  of  herself,  is  revisiting  the  scenes  of  her 
girlhood.  While  her  uncle  is  busy  with  contractors 
and  lawyers  in  town  and  Mrs.  Crawford  is  returning 
or  accepting  hospitalities,  both  in  garrison  and  city  life, 
Nannie  spends  long  days  riding  or  driving  about  the 
valley  of  the  Crow,  with  two  or  three  devoted  young 
"  doughboys"  to  choose  from  as  escorts,  with  pretty 
Mrs.  Hayne  for  a  new  friend,  with  kindly,  cordial, 
loving  greeting  from  dozens  of  faces  that  brighten  at 
her  coming,  and  with  almost  a  mother's  love  beaming 
upon  her  from  Mrs.  Freeman's  soulful  eyes.  It  is  to 
her  arms  she  comes  fluttering  every  night  when  the  last 
visitors  have  gone.  No  one  half  knows  the  depth  of 
the  confidence,  the  love  and  trust  and  faith  she  has 
learned  to  rest  in  this  wise  and  winsome  friend — the 
first  woman  in  all  the  — th  to  welcome  her,  a  child, 
motherless  and  bowed  with  grief  and  anxiety,  to  the 
shelter  of  her  roof,  to  the  sweet  sympathy  of  her  pure 
and  loving  heart.  Nannie  Bryan  thinks  Mrs.  Freeman 
the  best  and  most  beautiful  woman  in  all  the  world. 
Mrs.  Freeman  holds  Nannie  off  at  arms'  length,  as  this 
very  evening  she  enters  arrayed  for  a  little  dance  at  the 
hop-room,  and  marvels  at  the  changes  wrought  even 
since  their  winter  in  the  Riviera. 


424  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

If  Nannie  Bryan  could  but  see  herself  as  others  see 
her,  is  her  mental  comment,  who  could  blame  her  if 
vanity  became  a  besetting  sin  ?  The  girl's  lovely  eyes 
are  suffused,  a  blush  of  shy  delight  has  mantled  her 
smiling  face.  She  cannot  help  reading  the  admiration 
in  Mrs.  Freeman's  gaze. 

"You  like  me  in  this  dress?"  she  questions.  There 
is  no  verbal  reply.  Mrs.  Freeman's  eyes  are  beginning 
to  swim  unaccountably.  She  looks  fixedly  in  Nannie's 
face,  after  one  emphatic  little  nod  of  assent.  She  has 
something  on  her  mind. 

"  Why  do  you  wear  that  locket  with  this  dress,  Nan  ? 
Does  it  quite  accord  ?" 

"  No-o,  but "  A  deeper  blush,  a  droop  of  the 

beautiful  head,  then  a  sudden  shrug  of  the  pretty  white 
shoulders,  a  nervous  little  laugh,  a  half-sigh.  "  It's 
only  a  fancy,  I  suppose.  You  remember  I — got  it  at 
Nice." 

But  Mrs.  Freeman  feels  rather  sorry  for  Foster,  even 
though  he  is  to  be  Nannie  Bryan's  escort  to-night. 

Yes,  the  — th  are  coming  home.  They  have  been 
widely  scattered  during  the  summer's  scouting.  The 
colonel  with  the  entire  command  had  expected  a  moun 
tain  camp  and  a  season  of  field  manoeuvres  in  which 
all  should  take  part.  But  first  one  battalion  had  to  be 
hurried  off  to  Southern  Idaho  to  look  after  some  tur 
bulent  spirits  among  the  Bannocks.  Turner  and  Gregg, 
Truscott  and  Ray  had  trotted  westward  on  this  mission, 
with  old  Stannard  at  their  head.  Then  came  orders  to 
send  two  troops  out  along  the  Little  Missouri,  to  co 
operate  with  the  cavalry  from  the  North  in  looking 
after  the  Sioux  hunting-parties.  Another  troop  was 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  425 

detached  to  escort  the  division  commander  on  a  tour 
through  the  Yellowstone,  and  still  another  to  scout 
the  southwestern  slopes  of  the  Big  Horn.  Freeman  and 
Blake  were  of  the  escort,  when  there  met  them  far  up 
in  the  Wind  River  valley,  just  as  they  were  in  sight  of 
old  Camp  Brown,  a  Shoshone  Indian  with  a  despatch. 
It  contained  tidings  at  which  Freeman  choked  a 
moment,  and  then,  with  husky  voice  and  suspicious 
moisture  in  his  eyes,  turned  to  the  tall  lieutenant  riding 
at  the  head  of  the  leading  platoon. 

"  Blake,  old  man,  you've  got  your  troop.  Turner's 
troubles  are  over  at  last." 

Blake's  long  face  grew  longer  and  sadder  as  Free 
man  gave  the  brief  details.  In  reloading  his  own 
pistol  in  his  tent  at  evening  Turner  had  unaccountably 
dropped  it  and  Nellie  Turner  was  a  widow  before  the 
news  could  reach  her.  Poor  Mrs.  Turner !  She  had 
lived  so  long  in  garrison  that  the  army  had  become  her 
home.  Fair  and  shallow  and  frivolous,  she  had  led 
a  butterfly  sort  of  existence,  living  only  for  the  day, 
dreaming  of  little  beyond  dress  and  gayety.  Turner 
had  never  had  anything  beyond  his  salary.  They  had 
laid  not  up  for  the  rainy  day  so  sure  to  come.  Indeed, 
he  was  never  fairly  out  of  debt.  And  now  she  had 
nothing  but  that  slender  pension.  All  her  life,  petted, 
spoiled,  allowed  her  own  way  like  some  capricious  child, 
she  could  not  even  realize  the  gravity  of  her  situation. 
It  was  characteristic  of  her  that  when,  after  several 
weeks'  prostration  at  the  fort,  she  started  for  Massa 
chusetts,  Mrs.  Turner  declared  she  could  not  think 
of  travelling  without  a  maid,  and  Mrs.  Raymond's 
Jennie,  who  longed  to  get  back  to  the  far  East,  saw 

36* 


426  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

here  a  chance  of  going  at  somebody  else's  expense  and 
seized  it.  Many  and  many  a  time  had  the  pretty 
woman's  thoughtless  tongue  been  the  means  of  stirring 
social  troubles  at  the  various  posts  where  she  had 
flourished.  Many  a  more  genuine  woman  had  cause 
to  regard  her  with  distrust,  if  not,  at  times,  with 
aversion.  But  that  was  all  buried  and  forgotten  now. 
"  Death,  the  great  reconciler,"  had  indeed  interposed, 
and  those  gentle-hearted  women  vied  with  one  another 
in  deeds  of  loving  care  and  thoughtfulness.  Even  now, 
nearly  three  months  after  the  catastrophe  that  left  her 
widowed  and  desolate,  there  were  some  whose  eyes 
would  fill  to  overflowing  when  Mrs.  Turner's  name 
was  spoken.  There  were  many  who  would  weep  as 
they  read  the  forlorn  and  heart-sick  letters  she  wrote 
them  from  the  humble  home  where  now  she  was  drag 
ging  out  her  helpless,  hopeless  widowhood.  Inert  and 
idle  as  her  hands  had  ever  been,  there  was  absolutely 
nothing  to  which  she  could  turn  them  now.  She  never 
dreamed  that  the  draft  old  Waldron  handed  her — 
Heaven  forgive  him  the  lie ! — represented  far  more  than 
double  the  sum  her  furniture  and  household  effects  had 
brought.  She  was  even  heard  to  intimate  that  she  had 
been  grievously  swindled  in  the  sale.  Freeman  and 
Truscott  had  lost  no  time  in  sending  their  cheques. 
Mrs.  Truscott  and  Mrs.  Ray  had  had  a  sympathetic 
little  conference  over  the  generous  sum  the  latter  insisted 
on  handing  to  the  major  for  the  benefit  of  the  stricken 
woman.  And  not  one  of  all  their  number,  not  one  of 
those  gentle  hearts,  had  failed  to  contribute  substantially 
in  some  way  or  other  to  Mrs.  Turner's  comfort  or  sup 
port.  They  missed  her  sadly  now  that  she  was  gone. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  427 

And  Blake  was  now  commander  of  the  chestnut 
sorrels,  Turner's  old  troop.  He  was  away  from  it,  to 
be  sure,  and  far  up  on  the  Yellowstone  when  his  orders 
came;  for,  though  the  general  had  offered  to  relieve 
him  at  once  from  duty  with  the  escort,  Blake  preferred 
to  spend  the  summer  in  a  glorious  ride  through  the 
wild  mountains  than  in  a  monotonous  camp  at  the 
Bannock  Agency.  No  further  trouble  was  looked  for, 
and  he  longed  to  see  the  wonderful  country  through 
which  the  — th  had  marched  in  '77  on  the  campaign 
that  he  had  been  cheated  out  of.  Not  once  since  that 
windy  night  among  the  Hills  had  he  exchanged  one 
word  with  Madeleine  Granger.  They  met — they  had 
to  meet — after  his  resumption  of  duty  and  her  return 
from  that  protracted  wedding-tour ;  but,  though  her 
bow  and  smile  were  as  undauntedly  radiant  as  ever,  his 
response  was  formality  itself.  People  at  the  fort  were 
much  surprised  one  day  when  Lawyer  Leavitt  drove 
out  in  his  buggy  and  knocked  at  Blake's  quarters. 
They  did  not  know  what  Truscott  knew,  that  "  the 
squire"  had  written  Mr.  Blake  to  call  upon  him  at  his 
office  when  he  happened  to  be  in  town,  and  that  Blake 
had  formally  replied  that  he  did  not  propose  visiting 
town  for  that  purpose,  and  if  matters  were  of  importance 
to  Mr.  Leavitt,  possibly  he  could  find  time  to  call  upon 
Mr.  Blake  at  the  post.  But  even  Truscott  did  not 
know — did  not  dream  what  it  was  the  lawyer  had  to 
beg  of  the  soldier, — a  favor  over  which  the  former 
stumbled  pitifully  in  the  asking.  Mr.  Leavitt  desired 
him  to  promise  that  he  would  never  allude  to  the  letter 
written  by  Mrs.  Granger  to  Brooks  appointing  the 
meeting  at  Ouster,  nor  to  the  absurd  claim  made  by 


428  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

that  person  on  behalf  of  his  alleged  sister.  And  Blake 
calmly  replied  that  he  declined  to  bind  himself  by  any 
promises.  The  lawyer  argued  and  pleaded,  but  in  vain. 
Blake  simply  bowed  him  to  the  door. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  a  matter  he  never  referred  to. 

Late  this  very  August  evening,  just  as  a  little  group 
came  strolling  away  from  the  Athertons'  gate,  there 
strode  across  the  parade,  from  the  direction  of  the 
guard-house,  a  tall,  soldierly-looking  fellow  in  the  fa 
miliar  scouting  dress  of  the  cavalry.  He  was  heading 
for  the  adjutant's  office,  but  at  the  sound  of  the  clink 
of  the  infantry  sword  worn  by  one  of  the  officers  in 
the  party,  followed  by  a  murmur  of  conversation  and 
soft  laughter,  he  veered  to  the  right  and  came  speedily 
within  hailing  distance.  There  were  just  six  in  the 
party :  Mrs.  Freeman  and  Mr.  Graham  were  leading ; 
Mrs.  Hayne,  clinging  bride-like  to  her  husband's  arm, 
came  next,  and,  dawdling  rearmost  with  evident  intent 
to  make  the  short  walk  long  as  possible,  Mr.  Foster 
was  escorting  Nannie  Bryan.  All  three  couples  were 
brought  to  sudden  stop  by  a  joyous  call  from  across 
the  road,  and  the  next  instant  Gerald  Blake  had  leaped 
to  Mrs.  Freeman's  side,  and  there  was  a  babel  of  ex 
clamatory  welcome  and  greeting :  "  How  on  earth 
did  you  get  here?"  "Where  did  you  come  from?" 
"  Where  did  you  leave  the  troop  ?"  "  Where  are  the 
rest  of  them?"  "Why,  what  a  surprise!"  "We 
knew,  of  course,  you  would  be  coming  some  time,  but 
supposed  it  would  be  around  by  rail  and  that  you 
would  give  us  due  warning."  And  so,  in  the  excite 
ment  of  the  reunion  with  old  friends  and  in  the  hubbub 
of  question  and  answer,  Blake  never  noticed  what  Mrs. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  429 

Freeman  saw  at  once, — that  Nannie  Bryan  and  her 
escort  held  aloof.  But  Foster  had  marked  with  sur 
prise  the  instant  Blake's  voice  was  heard,  and  his  own 
impulse  was  to  move  forward  and  greet  him,  that  it 
was  his  fair  companion  who  drew  back — that  her  hand 
tightened  its  clasp  on  his  arm.  One  moment  a  fond, 
foolish  hope  thrilled  through  him  that  she  thought  to 
keep  him  there  because  of  the  joy  she  had  in  his  un 
divided  attention,  because  of  her  reluctance  to  permit 
others  to  break  in  upon  their  happy  chat.  But  it  died 
away  the  next  moment,  when  he  saw  that  her  eyes  were 
fixed  on  the  dim  figure  of  the  new-comer,  when  he 
noted  that  her  ears  were  deaf  to  every  voice  but  Blake's. 

"  I  was  sent  with  paymaster's  escort  to  the  Hills," 
he  heard  "  Legs"  explaining,  "  and  thence  homeward. 
Fve  left  our  prisoner  at  the  guard-house,  Graham. 
Who's  post-adjutant?"  And  then  Foster  had  to  come 
forward,  because  three  voices  summoned  him.  But  he 
might  as  well  have  remained  in  the  background.  Offi 
cial  matters  were  uttterly  forgotten  the  instant  Nannie 
Bryan,  blushing  and  with  an  odd  little  tremor  in  her 
voice,  held  out  her  hand  and  said — 

"  Don't  you  know  me,  Mr.  Blake  ?" 

Not  for  half  an  hour  more,  not  until  after  the 
Hay  lies  had  left  them  and  gone  home,  not  until  Graham 
had  gone  over  to  the  guard-house  and  back,  and  Blake 
had  told  them  all  the  news  of  Freeman  and  the  troop, 
and  it  was  evident  that  Mrs.  Freeman  was  burning 
with  eagerness  to  read  the  letters  he  had  brought  her 
but  was  too  considerate  of  her  guests  to  even  peep 
within  ;  not,  in  fact,  until  he  had  sat  there  practically 
speechless  for  over  twenty  minutes,  listening  to  talk  of 


430  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

absorbing  interest  to  everybody  but  him, — poor  fellow  ! 
— did  Foster  realize  that  he  were  best  away.  Then 
Blake,  too,  would  have  gone,  but  Mrs.  Freeman  whis 
pered,  "  Wait,'7  and  Foster  bowed  himself  off  the  piazza 
and  was  lost  sight  of  before  his  footsteps  were  out  of 
hearing.  This  was  a  complication  of  which  he  had 
not  even  dreamed. 

"Now  come  into  the  parlor,"  gleefully  laughed  Mrs. 
Freeman  ;  "  come  right  in." 

"  But,  fair  Lady  Griselda,  is  not  this  marked  remit 
tance  of  your  general  rule  ?  Never  before  within  my 
recollection  has  any  man  been  bidden  within  these 
portals  at  such  an  hour." 

"  Hush,  Mr.  Blake,"  was  the  imperious  reply.  "  It 
isn't  on  your  account  at  all.  I'm  simply  dying  to  read 
my  letters,  and  I  want  you  to  entertain  Nan  while  I 
do  it."  But  she  could  have  hugged  herself  with  de 
light — happy  little  schemer  that  she  was — as  she  slipped 
away  to  the  children's  bedside  and  left  Blake  standing 
under  the  hanging  lamp,  where  there  was  indeed  but 
scanty  room,  and  gazing  with  eyes  full  of  mingled 
wonderment  and  pleasure  at  the  tall  and  beautiful  girl 
whom  he  had  last  seen  in  the  Riviera. 

Later  that  night,  when  he  had  gone,  Mrs.  Freeman 
turned  to  her  lovely  friend  and  protegee  : 

"  Nannie  Bryan,  what  have  you  done  with  your 
locket?" 

"  Did  you  not  intimate  that  it  did  not  quite  match 
my  gown,  Mrs.  Freeman  ?"  was  the  arch  response. 

"  And  did  you  not,  despite  my  criticism,  wear  it  all 
the  evening  long  until  he  came?  You  sly-boots!  Do 
you  suppose  I  have  forgotten  the  day  he  bought  it,  just 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  431 

after  our  visit  to  the  fleet  at  Villefranche?  You 
wouldn't  let  him  see  that  you  wore  it,  Miss  Nan. 
What  does  that  mean  ?" 

Wl  ereat  Miss  Bryan  simply  turned  and  ran  away 
up  the  stair.  She  would  be  interviwed  no  further  on 
that  subject. 

Next  morning,  as  old  Waldron  was  coming  forth 
from  his  doorway,  he  greeted  with  evident  delight  the 
tall,  bronzed,  bearded  captain  of  cavalry  who  sprang 
to  meet  him,  looking  marvellously  alert  and  well  in  the 
new  fatigue  uniform,  on  the  shoulders  of  which  were 
glistening  for  the  first  time  the  double  silver  bars. 

"  Blake,  old  fellow,  how  glad  I  am  to  welcome  you ! 
What  a  ride  you  have  had  !  And  Foster  tells  me  that 
you  go  West  to  join  your  troop  at  once,  and  that  you 
caught  that  blackguard,  Jamieson." 

"  Caught  him  up  in  the  Hills,  sir,  close  to  Dead  wood, 
where  he  has  been,  it  seems,  ever  since  his  escape  from 
prison.  But  it  was  not  alone  as  an  escaped  convict 
we  seized  him,  or  as  accessory  to  Granger's  murder." 

"No!     What  else ?" 

"  It  was  he  who  shot  Mr.  Hollis.  The  identifica 
tion  is  complete." 

"  By  Jove !  that  is  a  capture  worth  the  making. 
There  was  a  garrison  yarn  of  some  tremendous  denun 
ciation  you  gave  him  just  before  starting  East.  He  was 
sent  to  prison  some  three  years  ago ;  what  was  all  that 
about?" 

"  That  was  about  still  another  matter,  sir,"  replied 
Blake,  reddening  through  the  bronze  of  his  face. 
"You  vaguely  remember,  I  think,  the  robbing  of 
Freeman's  stable,  though  you  happened  to  be  away  for 


432  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

a  while  on  general  court  yourself.  I  can  only  say  that 
the  rowing  I  gave  him  was  for  a  very  different  affair.  It 
involved  a  woman's  name,  and  I  believed  him  a  liar." 

The  band  had  taken  its  station  on  the  parade.  Mr. 
Foster  and  the  acting  sergeant-major  were  at  the  edge 
of  the  road  waiting  for  the  sergeants  to  finish  the  brief 
inspection  of  their  details  over  at  the  Riflers'  barracks. 
The  adjutant  glanced  quickly  up  the  row,  searching  the 
line  of  piazzas  for  a  tall,  graceful  form  that  had  ap 
peared  regularly  every  bright  morning  for  several  days 
past  at  the  Freemans'  door- way  just  at  the  sounding  of 
first  call  for  guard-mounting.  Yes ;  she  was  there  now, 
she  and  her  charming  hostess  and  friend  ;  but  he  could 
not  see  her  face.  Between  Nannie  Bryan  and  himself 
there  stood  the  tall  figure  of  Gerald  Blake. 

Ten  minutes  later,  as  the  young  adjutant  finished  the 
brief  inspection  of  the  guard  and  came  marching  out 
to  the  front,  he  noted  that  the  lady  of  his  love  was 
leaning  on  the  gate,  her  face  shaded  by  her  parasol,  her 
head  drooping ;  her  attitude  was  one  of  rapt  attention, 
for  Blake,  too,  was  leaning  on  the  gate  and  talking 
eagerly,  and  Mrs.  Freeman  had  come  over  to  the 
next  piazza,  a  manoauvre  which  not  only  left  the  two 
together,  but  headed  off  the  possibility  of  interruption 
from  that  direction.  Mrs.  Freeman  was  capable  of 
flights  of  generalship. 

There  was  a  lovely  waltz  the  band  of  the  — th  used 
to  play  in  those  days,  an  old  German  "  lied,"  with  a 
sweet,  mournful,  sobbing  strain  running  through  every 
bar,  and  Nannie  Bryan,  dancing  with  Foster  but  the 
night  before,  had  pronounced  it  exquisite.  She  had 
heard  it  in  Vienna,  and  had  there  learned  its  name, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  433 

"  The  Loved  and  Lost/7  and  Foster  had  thought  it  a 
dainty  little  bit  of  sentiment  to  have  the  band  play  it 
for  her  this  morning,  and  had  so  ordered.  A  dozen 
feminine  heads  could  be  seen  appreciatively  nodding  in 
time  to  the  lovely  melody  as  the  band  trooped  up  and 
down  in  front  of  the  Httle  guard,  but  Miss  Nan  seemed 
listening  to  no  other  music  than  the  martial  basso  can- 
tante  of  her  trooper  friend.  A  tall,  gray-haired  captain 
of  infantry  received  the  salute  of  the  guard  as  new 
officer  of  the  day,  and,  dispensing  with  the  march  in 
review,  sent  the  little  squad  of  a  dozen  men  direct  to 
its  post,  he  and  Mr.  Graham  following.  Foster  re 
turned  sword  with  a  snap  and  marched  straight  to 
where  Blake  and  his  fair  companion  were  standing. 
Intent  only  on  heading  off  feminine  raiders,  Mrs.  Free 
man  had  left  that  approach  unguarded,  and  Foster  bore 
down  upon  the  all-unconscious  couple. 

"  Good-morning,  Miss  Bryan/7  was  the  sudden  salu 
tation.  "Did  you  recognize  the  waltz?" 

She  looked  up  in  absolute  consternation. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Fo  ter  !  I'm  so  sorry.  I  was  talking. 
I " 

Poor  Nannie!  She  couldn't  tell  even  a  white  lie 
with  a  face  that  turned  so  deep  a  red  ;  but  there  was 
no  need.  Foster  never  halted  an  instant,  but  mutely 
accepted  his  sentence  as  he  hurried  on  to  the  office. 
The  lete-a-tete  was  brought  to  immediate  end,  however. 
Dismayed  at  her  preoccupation,  indignant  at  herself, 
Nannie  brushed  through  the  gate,  declaring  she  must 
see  Mrs.  Hayne  a  moment,  and  that  Captain  Blake  must 
go  at  once  and  pay  his  respects  to  Mrs.  Stannard  and 
the  other  ladies  of  the  — th,  some  of  whom,  rest  as- 
T  cc  37 


434  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

sured,  were  already  on  the  veranda  and  had  seen  him 
and  marked  his  absorbed  manner.  And  not  ten  min 
utes  later,  Blake,  with  something  of  his  old  genial  self, 
at  least,  was  seated  in  Mrs.  Truscott's  pretty  parlor, 
with  boy  Jack  on  his  knee,  and  with  three  fair  matrons 
of  the  — th  laughing  at  his  sallies  and  mentally  noting 
the  great  improvement  in  his  appearance,  when  there 
came  a  sharp  rap  at  the  door.  It  was  the  orderly  from 
the  office,  who  came  to  say  with  the  major's  compliments 
that  he  desired  to  see  Captain  Blake  as  soon  as  he  had 
finished  breakfast. 

"  How  can  a  man  finish  what  he  hasn't  begun  ?" 
laughed  Blake,  as  he  quickly  arose.  "  I'll  see  what's 
wanted,  Mrs.  Truscott,  and  be  back  in  five  minutes. 
Jump  !  Jack  Junior." 

It  seems  that  Mrs.  Truscott  was  to  entertain  half  a 
dozen  of  the  ladies  that  morning,  for  Marion  Ray  was 
to  return  to  Sidney  on  the  afternoon  train,  in  order  to 
get  everything  ready  for  her  lord's  home-coming.  Mrs. 
Freeman,  with  Nannie  Bryan  and  Mrs.  Hayne,  came 
beaming  in  but  a  moment  after  Blake  had  hurried  away. 
Lucky  fellow !  It  had  been  decided,  though  this  was 
to  have  been  a  ladies'  affair,  that  an  exception  should 
be  made  in  his  case,  because  he  had  to  start  westward 
that  very  day.  Mrs.  Freeman  had  sent  word  of  his 
arrival  as  soon  as  she  believed  Mrs.  Truscott  was  astir 
in  the  morning. 

Ten  minutes  passed,  and  he  did  not  come.  Fifteen, 
and  the  breakfast  was  being  ruined. 

"  We  will  take  our  seats,"  said  the  hostess,  "  and 
scold  the  one  masculine  representative  of  the  — th  when 
he  finally  appears." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  435 

Bat  Mrs.  Stannard's  blue  eyes  were  clouding  with 
anxiety. 

"  I  do  not  like  it,"  she  said,  peering  forth  from  the 
window.  "  You  saw  last  evening's  paper  about  the 
Indians  at  the  Black  Rock  Agency  ?" 

"  Why,  yes,  Mrs.  Stannard ;  but  that  is  out  of  this 
department.  Surely  the  — th  would  not  be  called  on 
after  all  they've  had  to  do/'  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ray,  with 
paling  face. 

"  Ah  !  It  is  never  a  question  of  what  they  have 
done  in  the  army,  but  just  at  this  moment  Luce's 
battalion — our  four  troops — happen  to  be  the  nearest 
cavalry  to  the  scene,  and  we  know  what  that  por 
tends." 

The  hall-door  opened  hastily.  It  was  Mrs.  Raymond 
who  entered,  flushed  and  tearful. 

"  Such  dreadful  news  !"  she  said.  "  Mrs.  Atherton 
has  just  told  me.  The  Indians  have  murdered  the 
people  at  the  agency,  and  they're  coming  towards  the 
railway.  All  our  regiment  are  ordered  to  meet  them. 
Oh,  Mrs.  Freeman  !  You  at  least  are  lucky,  for  your 
husband  is  too  far  away." 

And  then  breakfast  was  forgotten.  The  table  was 
deserted.  One  and  all  the  fair,  anxious  faces  gathered 
about  the  next  comer,  Mrs.  Atherton,  who  entered, 
despatch  in  hand. 

".Think  of  it!  Think  of  it!"  she  cried.  "The 
Mertons  with  their  charming  party  of  tourists,  who 
were  here  two  weeks  ago,  are  camping  in  the  North 
Park  at  this  moment  without  an  idea  of  the  danger !" 

"  Oh,  is  there  no  way  of  warning  them  ?"  was  the 
shuddering  question. 


43 6  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  Well,  scouts  rode  this  morning  from  Castle  Dome, 
the  nearest  station.  But,  think  of  the  distance,  and 
then  what  good  will  it  do?  The  Indians  will  be  upon 
them  before  they  can  get  out  of  the  Park ;  and  just 
think  of  Mrs.  Merton  and  those  poor  girls!'7 

A  horseman  flashed  by  the  window  at  the  instant, 
the  galloping  hoofs  spurning  the  gravel.  "  It's  Captain 
Blake,'7  she  said.  "  A  special  train  is  going  at  once 
with  every  man  we  can  possibly  mount.'7 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  437 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

"  CUT  Off,  and  Either  Killed  or  Captured !"  "  The 
Last  News  of  Captain  Blake !"  Such  were  the  head 
lines  of  the  morning  paper  that  brought  weeping  and 
desolation  to  more  than  one  household  in  the  stricken 
garrison  one  bright  September  day  a  week  later.  All 
over  the  broad,  smiling  landscape,  all  over  that  tum 
bling  sea  of  prairie,  far  on  every  side  there  shone 
the  radiance  of  peace  and  harmony.  Cattle  browsed 
placidly  in  the  sheltered  "  swales"  where  the  bunch- 
grass  grew  thickest.  Children  romped  and  laughed 
on  the  parade ;  stages  and  freight  wagons  went  lumber 
ing  by  to  the  northward ;  the  trains  on  the  railway 
wound,  puffing,  up  the  long  tortuous  grade  to  the  west 
ward  summit.  But  on  what  scenes  of  tragedy  had 
they  not  gazed,  those  serene,  snow-capped  peaks  to  the 
south  !  On  what  scenes  of  battle  and  massacre  and 
terror  had  not  these  mute  witnesses,  the  nearer  heights 
to  the  West,  looked  down  during  the  last  few  days, 
while  here,  nestling  at  their  feet,  lay  this  broad  prairie 
fortress,  smiling  in  the  sunshine  as  though  no  cloud 
had  ever  cast  its  veiling  shadow  athwart  its  guarded 
lines.  Murder  most  foul  within  its  very  gates.  Assas 
sination  in  the  peaceful,  placid  valley,  where  the  stream 
went  softly  babbling  now.  Storm  and  tempest,  strife 

87* 


438  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  sudden  death — all  had  marred  its  recent  history. 
And  yet  from  one  scene  after  another  the  old  fort 
seemed  to  rally  like  the  battling  skirmish-line  to  the 
merry  music  of  its  own  trumpets,  ready  undauntedly 
to  face  each  coming  foe.  Never  had  life  seemed  blither, 
brighter,  dearer  than  the  August  morn  when  Blake  and 
Nannie  Bryan  stood  there  at  the  Freernans'  gate,  and 
those  bonny  soldier  wives,  up  and  down  the  line,  were 
donning  their  smiles  and  silk  attire  to  meet  him  at 
Mrs.  Truscott's.  Then  the  lords  they  loved  were  home 
ward  bound.  Now,  once  more,  the  chargers  were  sniff 
ing  the  sulphur-laden  breeze  along  the  mountain  range, 
and  the  carbines  ringing  their  death-shots  among  the 
echoing  crags.  Then  this  joyous  band  of  women  had 
gathered  to  surround  and  capture  the  new  captain  and 
restored  favorite,  since  he  had  cast  aside  all  old  idola 
tries  and  knew  no  other  goddesses  but  of  their  number. 
But  what  manner  of  band  was  this  that  held  him  im 
prisoned  many  a  league  away?  Riding  post-haste,  the 
couriers  had  warned  the  tourist  party  of  their  peril,  and 
guided  them,  abandoning  their  camp,  backwards  across 
the  range;  and  the  Indians  who  sought  to  follow  and 
capture  were  grappled  midway  by  Gerald  Blake  and 
the  little  force  that  had  galloped  at  his  heels.  "  Every 
man  whom  they  could  possibly  mount."  There  rode 
Pet  Hayne,  his  steel-blue  eyes  ablaze.  There  rode 
young  Foster,  eager  to  welcome  brevet  or  bullet  either 
this  time;  anything  was  better  than  lagging  there  at 
Russell  now.  There  followed  a  motley  score  of  Riflers, 
straddling  their  unaccustomed  steeds,  but  envied  of  all 
their  comrades  who  were  trudging  manfully  fifty  miles 
behind.  "There  would  have  been  a  dozen  ' dough- 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  439 

boys'  to  every  horse,"  said  the  major,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  "  could  the  horses  have  toted  more  than  one." 

Far  ahead,  far  out  into  the  glorious  Park  country, 
the  little  band  had  lunged,  rescuing  the  tourists  in  the 
nick  of  time.  Then,  revengefully,  the  whole  tribe  had 
turned  and  swarmed  on  them — on  Blake — Blake,  who 
had  but  forty  men,  all  told.  And  there  he  lay  battling 
among  the  boulders  in  the  Yampah  gorge,  and  not 
a  rescuing  comrade  within  possibility  of  hail.  No 
wonder  sweet  young  Mrs.  Hayne  lay  terror-stricken  at 
the  post  and  that  the  women  thronged  at  her  door  to 
minister  and  console.  No  wonder  Mrs.  Ray  postponed 
her  homeward  journey,  that  she  might  be  here  where 
first  news  would  come,  where  she  could  be  "  near  Will" 
if  anything  went  wrong.  No  wonder  the  wives  of 
those  who  rode  with  bluff  old  Stannard  clung  to  one 
another  now  in  sympathy,  deeper  even  than  they  ever 
felt  before.  Every  one  knew  that  he,  with  Gregg 
and  Truscott  and  Billy  Ray,  with  half  a  dozen  eager 
subalterns  and  two  hundred  gallant  men,  was  spur 
ring  hard  to  reach  the  scene;  that  there  would  be 
ringing  music  when  those  brave  boys  came  riding  into 
battle-line.  But  men's  hearts  sank  at  the  thought 
of  the  hours  that  must  elapse  before  they  could  hope 
to  get  in  range  of  the  besieged,  and  soft  eyes  filled 
with  tears  of  dread  and  anguish.  What  would  then 
the  death  harvest  be?  Yes,  even  at  Mrs.  Freeman's 
there  were  tears  and  prayers  and  long  night  vigils, 
even  when  that  unconscionable  woman,  at  least,  should 
have  been  thanking  heaven  her  captain  had  been  sent 
so  far  away  that  there  was  no  hope  of  his  recall. 

"  Stannard's  battalion  crossed  the  Wolf  River  at  day- 


440  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

break/'  said  the  despatches,  "  with  Blake  still  fifty  miles 
away !  The  tourists  are  safe  at  Outranks  ranch." 

That  night  the  round  moon  rises,  silvering  all  the 
wild  beauty  of  a  gorge  that  is  like  some  Highland  glen 
transplanted  from  the  very  heart  of  the  Trosachs. 
Down  in  the  depths  of  the  deep  ravine,  in  ceaseless 
rush,  a  mountain  torrent  is  brawling  over  its  rocky  bed, 
and  here  and  there  its  foaming  reaches  glisten  ghostly 
white  in  the  radiance,  and  again,  bursting  over  some 
granite  barrier,  it  tosses  a  sparkling  wreath  of  spray 
into  the  branches  of  overhanging  pine.  Out  on  the 
cliff-side  to  the  west  the  growth  is  thick  half-way  to 
the  crest;  then,  from  this  dark  foliage  of  the  slopes, 
there  spring  straight  towards  the  glistening  vault  of  the 
heavens  great  columns  of  red  sandstone,  bold,  vertical, 
palisaded,  with  black  rents  here  and  there  in  their  scarred 
faces,  rents  that  the  eye  cannot  penetrate  in  their  depth 
and  gloom.  Here  on  the  hither — the  eastern — side  of 
the  gorge  the  ascent  is  more  gradual  and  is  thickly 
covered  with  pine  and  strewn  with  boulders ;  yet  from 
this  jutting  point  in  the  general  rise  one  can  see  for 
fully  a  mile  up  the  twisting  gorge  towards  the  south. 
There  it  narrows  and  is  shouldered  out  of  sight  in  the 
frowning  front  of  the  range.  Turning  about  and  look 
ing  northward,  the  eye  roams  over  an  expanse  of  valley 
opening  out  to  billowy,  treeless  uplands,  perhaps  five 
miles  away.  It  is  the  northern  entrance  to  the  old 
Manitou  Pass  through  the  Snow-Cloud  Rano-e.  It  is 

o  o 

the  pass  through  which  the  tourists,  led  by  two  faithful 
guides,  came  fleeing  in  dismay  three  days  before,  aban 
doning  their  rich  camp  to  the  coming  foe  as  desperate 
travellers  over  snow-clad  steppes  toss  backwards  their 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  441 

very  garments  to  check  and  baffle  the  wolves  snapping 
at  their  heels.  It  is  the  pass  through  which  there 
burst  upon  the  trail  not  six  hours  later  a  furious  baud 
of  savages,  drunk  with  blood  and  spoil,  exulting  in 
the  thought  that  a  few  hours7  gallop  must  overhaul  the 
pale  faces,  burdened  as  they  are  with  helpless  women. 
Before  nightfall  their  exultant  hundred  will  have  sur 
rounded  that  huddling  dozen,  and  then — death  to  the 
men  ! — but, — look  well  to  it  lest  ill-aimed  bullet  rob 
the  Indian  brave  of  madder  delight  than  even  the 
scalp-dance  in  the  glorious  revel  to  come.  God  !  What 
fate  for  those  fair,  dainty  women !  What  horror  for 
husband  and  father  to  contemplate ! 

But  this  is  a  pass  long  to  be  remembered  and  be 
moaned  among  the  survivors  in  the  savage  tribe.  Just 
before  the  leaders,  lashing  their  bounding  ponies  down 
the  trail,  had  come  in  sight  of  the  open  stretch  of  roll 
ing  country,  spreading  far  to  the  north,  there  rode  into 
the  narrow  glen  a  grimy,  dust-covered  band  of  perhaps 
twoscore  soldiers  on  groaning  and  exhausted  steeds. 
Some  of  these  poor  brutes  break  down  before  they  can 
reach  the  banks  of  the  foaming  stream.  All  the  others 
thrust  deep  their  muzzles  in  the  swirling  waters  and 
drink  their  fill.  Then,  on  again  they  go.  He  who 
leads  the  party  is  tall,  stalwart,  bearded.  He  rides  to 
day  as  though  he  never  lived  out  of  the  saddle.  They 
who  follow  are  worn,  haggard,  many  of  them  sore,  yet 
all  grimly  determined.  Not  more  than  five  carry  the 
carbine,  all  the  rest  are  armed  with  the  long  Springfield 
of  the  infantry.  These  are  the  "  Riflers"  almost  to  a 
soul.  They  represent  what  is  left  of  the  eager  command 
sent  by  special  train  under  Blake,  with  orders  to  spare 


442  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

neither  horse  nor  man,  to  stop  for  nothing,  to  "get 
there  at  all  hazards"  and  rescue  those  hapless  tourists. 

And  here,  at  the  very  foot  of  the  Pass — at  its  north 
ward  mouth — they  have  met.  No  time  for  more  than 
brief  congratulation.  On  with  you !  you  who  have 
women  to  shield.  Haste  them  northward,  fast  as  their 
strength  permits!  The  Indians  that  get  through  that 
Pass  in  pursuit  have  got  to  win  it  first.  Now  come  on, 
Riflers !  Come  on,  lads !  We've  five  miles  farther 
to  go  before  we  reach  the  point  to  block  them. 

Blake  thanks  God  for  the  hunting  trips  that  filled 
those  few  bitter  years.  No  mountaineer,  no  frontiers 
man,  can  tell  him  anything  about  the  Snow-Cloud 
Range.  Some  of  the  horses  can  barely  stagger  farther  ; 
but,  heaven  be  praised  !  they  who  have  fallen  are 
sacrificed  in  a  glorious  cause.  The  fugitives  are  safe  so 
far.  Now  to  make  their  escape  a  certainty !  To  re 
main  with  them  out  here  in  the  open  uplands  means 
only  to  invite  attack  from  overwhelming  force  where 
defence  is  next  to  impossible.  There  is  but  one  solu 
tion  to  the  problem, — seize  that  pass  where  it  is  walled, 
narrow  and  precipitous,  where  mounted  Indians  cannot 
get  around,  and  then  hold  it  like  grim  death  till  the 
end — whatever  it  be. 

And  here,  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the  gorge,  the 
grapple  came.  Down  went  the  ponies  and  the  leaders 
before  the  sudden  fire  that  flashed  from  rock  and  tree. 
Back  reeled  those  Avho  were  spared,  dismaying  the 
surging  column  in  their  wake.  Then  came  the  slow, 
stealthy  Indian  approach.  Then  the  real  trial  of  the 
brave  fellows  who  had  stemmed  the  rush  of  ten  times 
their  little  force  and  now  must  fight  for  their  own  lives. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  443 

Every  hour  they  hold  the  warriors  here  the  jaded 
refugees  are  speeding  farther  towards  safety  and  sup 
ports.  They  have  got  the  Indians  huddled  in  the 
gorge,  but  every  man  knows  full  well  that  though  the 
fleet  ponies  cannot  scale  the  heights  around  them,  the 
Indians  can  and  will ;  and,  balked  of  their  chosen  prey, 
now  far  to  the  north,  will  fight  like  devils  to  revenge 
themselves  on  those  who  have  slain  their  best  and 
bravest. 

And  desperate  fighting  it  has  been.  A  few  hours  told 
the  savages  how  trivial  was  the  force  that  held  them  ; 
but  through  them  they  could  not  break ;  every  trial 
brought  disaster ;  around  them  they  could  not  go  un 
less  they  left  the  precious  ponies  behind.  They  raged 
at  the  thought  of  being  baffled  by  the  white  soldiers. 
Slowly  they  had  accomplished  "  the  surround. "  One 
by  one  Blake's  poor  horses  were  shot  down  from  the 
heights,  and  Jay  stiffening  there  in  a  festering  heap 
where  they  had  been  huddled  near  the  stream.  One 
by  one  Blake's  men  were  picked  off  or  driven  from  the 
rocks  assigned  them,  until,  twenty-four  hours  after  the 
initial  triumph,  the  tall  leader  found  himself  compelled 
to  leave  his  four  dead  comrades  where  they  lay,  though 
covered  deep  with  rocks,  and  to  order  a  simultaneous 
dash  down  through  the  pines  and  boulders  to  this  very 
point  jutting  out  from  the  eastern  slope,  half  a  mile 
away.  In  the  dead  of  night  the  little  band  stole  from 
their  lair,  and,  with  the  loss  of  but  one  more,  reached 
the  new  stronghold.  "  And  here,  lads,"  said  Blake, 
"  we'll  rule  the  roost  till  Stannard  comes." 

Then  came  another  twenty-four  hours,  when  no  man 
could  move  hand  or  foot  from  his  lurking-place  but 


444  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

the  bullets  came  whizzing  by.  And  now  Blake  is 
indeed  sorely  troubled.  Pet  Hayne  is  shot  through 
both  thighs  and  lies  there  pale,  but  uncomplaining. 
Foster  has  had  a  "  close  call."  Four  men  are  wounded, 
and  they  are  suffering,  for  every  drop  of  water  is  gone. 
"  If  only  it  prove  clouded  and  dark  as  last  night,"  he 
sighs  to  himself,  "then  we  may  slip  down  and  re-fill 
the  canteens." 

But  this  night  comes  on  at  last,  a  vision  of  heavenly 
radiance.  The  moon  rises  in  cloudless  splendor  and 
sails  slowly  towards  the  zenith  in  a  sky  that  knows  not 
a  wisp  of  vapor.  It  is  the  third  night  of  their  vigil. 

They  rode  in  nearly  forty  strong.  They  are  crouch 
ing  here  "  not  thirty  weak,"  grins  Blake,  as  he  bends 
anxiously  over  Hayne.  "  Pet,  old  man,  you  and  your 
Riflers  and  your  l  long  Toms'  have  carried  off  all  the 
honors  this  trip.  What  a  Godsend  it  was  we  happened 
to  be  there  together.  Can  you  hold  out  a  day  or  so  all 
right?" 

Hayne  set  his  teeth. 

"  Fve  got  to,  '  Legs' ;  so  have  we  all.  Stannard 
will  be  here  in  forty  hours  or  so.  How's  Foster  ?" 

"  Huffy.  He  will  hardly  speak  to  me  now.  I  told 
him  what  he  saw  was  mirage ;  it  couldn't  be  anything 
else,  and  warned  him  not  to  excite  the  men  with  false 
hopes,  it  would  deter  efforts  to  sneak  down  for  water." 

"  Where  is  he  now  ?"  asks  Hayne,  faintly. 

"  Oh,  back  at  his  roost  on  t'other  side.  He  and  a 
dozen  men  watch  that  crest-line  across  the  gorge.  It's 
a  mighty  long  shot  from  there,  but  the  Indians  have 
managed  to  send  four  of  my  best  men  to  grass  besides 
you,  old  man,  and  the  bullets  come  singing  close  in 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  445 

from  there.  We've  got  'em  foul  on  this  side,  though  ; 
they  can't  touch  us  except  by  a  rush  which  will  cost 
them  too  much.  Lord !  what  a  powwow  they've 
been  having  over  the  dead  already ;  but  for  the 
last  hour,  why — they've  been  as  still  as  Gregg's 
catawba." 

Hayne  grins  painfully.  Even  here,  with  death  on 
every  side,  Blake's  grim  spirit  of  fun  will  crop  to  the 
surface.  Gregg  had  made  quite  a  talk  in  the  regiment 
when  he  came  from  recruiting  service  about  the  won 
derful  wine  he  had  been  drinking.  Afterwards  he  had 
ordered  six  cases  of  a  man  who  applied  to  him  by  mail 
and  who  turned  out  to  be  a  fraud,  as  did  his  wine, 
which,  when  uncorked  with  infinite  flourish,  proved  to 
be  a  watered  imitation  of  the  brand  the  captain  so  en 
thusiastically  praised. 

"  My  God  !  I'd  give  ten  dollars  for  a  sip  even  of 
that  to-night,"  groans  poor  Blake  to  himself,  a  moment 
later,  as  the  feeble  moan  of  a  sorely  wounded  soldier 
comes  to  his  ears. 

"Can  I  do  anything  to  make  you  easier,  Horton?" 
he  whispers,  going  over  and  kneeling  by  the  man. 

"  For  the  love  of  God,  captain, — water  !" 

Blake  springs  to  his  feet,  dashing  his  hand  across  his 
eyes.  "  By  heaven,  lad,  you  shall  have  it,"  he  mutters. 
"  I  can't  stand  this.  There  hasn't  been  a  thimbleful 
since  noon." 

Bending  low,  he  flits  from  tree  to  tree,  from  rock  to 
rock,  keeping  in  the  deep  shadows,  dodging  every 
moonlit  space  until  he  reaches  the  westward  edge  of 
the  jutting  bluff.  Here,  pallid  and  wan,  two  more  of 
the  wounded  are  lying  under  the  trees,  and  he  kneels 

38 


146  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

to  answer  the  mute,  but  imploring,  appeal  in  their 
fevered  eyes. 

"  Never  fear,  lads ;  if  you  don't  have  water  soon  it 
shall  not  be  for  lack  of  trying.  Are  you  in  much 
pain,  sergeant?"  he  asks  the  bearded  Rifler,  who  is 
stretched  upon  a  saddle-blanket  under  a  stunted  pine. 

"  A  twinge  or  two,  sir.  But  what  hurts  most  is  that 
I  can't  answer  the  shots  from  over  yonder."  And  his 
left  hand  points  across  the  deep  and  frowning  gorge  to 
the  rocky  battlements  that  overlook  them  as  they  hug 
their  hiding-places  on  the  spur. 

"  I  feel  that  worse  than  you  do,  sergeant.  You  fel 
lows  with  your  '  long  Toms7  have  kept  down  that  fire 
as  we  never  could,  and,"  he  mutters  to  himself,  "we 
can't  afford  to  waste  a  shot  now.  Our  cartridges  are 
almost  gone.  Let  me  have  both  your  canteens, 
men." 

"Why,  who's  going  to  make  the  try,  sir?"  asks  the 
sergeant. 

"I'll  name  him  presently.  A  dozen  would  volun 
teer,  but  they  have  been  forbidden  so  long  as  that  fire 
continues  as  sharp  as  it  is.  What  do  you  think  their 
silence  means  ?"  And  as  he  asks,  Blake  is  slinging  the 
canteen  straps  over  his  shoulder. 

"  Lieutenant  Foster  crawled  over  here  a  bit  ago,  sir, 
with  the  same  question.  He  thinks  they're  holding 
a  council  of  some  kind.  There's  plenty  of  them  there, 
though.  All  you've  got  to  do  is  to  strike  a  light  among 
the  trees  here,  or  venture  out  along  that  ledge  where  the 
moonlight  shines,  and  the  whole  crest  will  blaze  with 
shots.  Where,  in  God's  name,  do  they  get  all  their 
ammunition,  sir?" 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  447 

"Where  they  always  have  and  always  will,  from 
their  traders  and  these  money-making  white  settlers — 
damn  them! — Hello!  what's  wanted  now?" 

A  quick,  low  whistle  sounds  farther  to  the  right. 
Rifle  in  hand,  Blake  goes  crouching  through  the  pines, 
darting  from  one  shadow  to  the  next.  A  few  seconds 
bring  him  to  the  northern  edge,  at  a  point  commanding 
a  perfect  view  of  the  gradually  widening  valley  as  well 
as  of  the  palisaded  rocks  across  the  gorge.  Here, 
kneeling  under  the  eastern  side  of  a  big  boulder,  he 
finds  Mr.  Foster,  field-glasses  in  hand.  Blake  crawls 
to  his  side. 

"  What's  up  this  time?" 

"  What  I  said  was  up  before,  sir,"  is  the  almost  sul 
len  reply.  "  Take  this  glass  and  squint  out  there  to 
the  north.  Our  trail  comes  around  the  front  of  that 
butte.  Horsemen  were  moving  along  it  just  now." 

Blake,  stretched  at  full  length,  raises  himself  on  both 
elbows  and  gazes  long  and  earnestly.  At  last  he 
lowers  the  glass. 

"You  cannot  wish  it  were  our  people  more  than  I 
do,  Foster ;  but  it  is  simply  impossible  that  the  bat 
talion  could  reach  us  before  to-morrow  some  time ;  yet 
you  were  possessed  with  the  idea  it  was  in  sight  from 
here  at  sundown." 

"  I  didn't  say  the  battalion,  Captain  Blake.  I  said 
then  and  say  now  that,  just  as  the  brightest  rays  fell  on 
the  west  side  of  a  ridge  way  off  there  to  the  north,  I 
saw  what  I  believed  to  have  been  a  troop  of  horse  coming 
across  in  column  of  twos.  It  lasted  but  a  few  seconds 
and  faded  away ;  but  I'm  not  dreaming,  if  I  am  dry. 
And  just  before  I  whistled  I  saw  the  same  thing  down 


448  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

yonder  in  that  big  patch  of  moonlight, — a  troop  of 
ghosts,  perhaps,  only  I  don't  believe  in  spooks." 

"  I  can  see  nothing ;  but  you  may  be  right,  youngster. 
God  knows  I  hope  you  are,  and  that  I'm  wrong  ;  but 
it  can  be  none  of  Stannard's  people,  and  what  else  is 
there  to  hope  for  ?  Now,  where  are  your  canteens  ?" 

"Back  yonder  among  the  pines,  sir;  but  there's  no 
use  squeezing  them." 

"  I  want  some,  all  the  same  ;  then  I  want  you  and 
three  of  your  men  to  cover  me  as  much  as  you. possibly 
can." 

"  Why,  you're  not  going,  captain  ?  Surely,  that  isn't 
your  business." 

"  It  happens  to  be  this  time.  It's  simply  a  question 
of  legs.  Mine  have  been  the  butt  of  you  Riflers  so  long 
that  they  ought  to  be  crippled  ;  but  I  can  outrun  and  out- 
climb  the  best  of  you  to-night,  and  I  mean  to  prove  it." 
"You  couldn't  if  you  hadn't  saddle-galled  the  whole 
gang  of  us,  riding  two  hundred  miles  on  your  con 
demned  plugs.  There's  more  of  us  disabled  by  the 
infernal  things  than  by  bullets.  If  I  could  run  or 
walk  ten  yards,  you  shouldn't  go."  And  Foster  shakes 
his  head,  dejectedly. 

"  Nobody  need  know  anything  about  it,  Foster,  be 
yond  yourself,  at  least  until  they  begin  shooting.  Now, 
here's  my  plan.  It's  about  three  hundred  yards  down 
there  to  the  water  from  this  ledge.  It  would  be  useless 
to  try  it  just  now,  for  there's  no  moving  object  an  In 
dian  can't  see  so  long  as  there's  any  light ;  but  in  half 
an  hour  or  so  the  moon  will  be  throwing  the  shadow  of 
this  bluff  so  that  by  going  back  to  that  clump  of  pines 
yonder  I  can  creep  in  shadow  along  right  under  us  here 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  449 

clown  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  that  pool  above  the 
fall.  Of  course,  they  have  watchers  out  all  along  the 
timber  at  the  stream,  and  both  above  and  below  us  ;  but 
there's  no  force  down  there  to  speak  of.  Most  of  the 
ponies  have  been  led  back  and  are  up  on  top  of  the 
plateau  at  this  moment.  The  beggars  know  we  can't 
get  away  afoot,  even  if  we  could  break  through  on  this 
side.  I  count  on  getting  down  that  far  without  being 
seen ;  then  I'll  sneak  for  it  to  the  pool,  fill  the  canteens, 
and  wriggle  back.  If  they  see  me  and  open  fire,  keep 
them  off  as  well  as  you  can.  I'll  show  them  a  pair  of 
heels  up  the  hill-side." 

Foster  would  again  protest,  but  Blake  shuts  off 
further  opportunity  by  slipping  backwards  from  the 
ledge,  and  in  another  moment  he  is  among  the  pines, 
quietly  stringing  the  canteens  over  his  shoulder,  choos 
ing  those  on  which  the  covering  is  still  intact,  and  thus 
diminishing  the  chance  of  rattling.  Once  again  he 
cautiously  makes  his  way  over  to  the  opposite  side  of 
his  little  fortress,  avoiding  the  spot  where  Hayne  is 
patiently  lying,  and  keeping  away,  as  much  as  possible, 
from  the  stations  of  the  men.  He  does  not  w£nt  them 
to  know  of  his  hazardous  attempt.  And  at  last  he  has 
succeeded  in  gaining  a  point  where,  looking  westward, 
he  can  see  that  already  the  northern  face  of  the  project 
ing  bluff  is  almost  entirely  in  shadow.  Long  since 
he  has  discarded  boots  and  spurs  and  thrust  his  feet 
into  light  moccasins.  Now,  with  nine  canteens  strung 
about  him,  he  slowly  and  cautiously  begins  the  descent. 
"Eight  was  about  all  a  fellow  could  skip  with  up  such 
a  hill/7  he  had  muttered,  "  but  I'll  take  one  more  and 
make  it  nine  for  luck." 

dd  38* 


450  CAPTAIN   BLAKE. 

Lightly  now,  stepping  as  though  on  eggs,  and  fear 
ful  of  the  faintest  sound,  steadying  himself  by  the 
branches  of  the  stunted  trees,  and  keeping  ever  within 
the  shadows,  he  goes  crouching  from  rock  to  rock,  from 
tree  to  tree,  and  at  last  finds  himself  at  the  western 
foot  of  the  steep  bluff,  on  whose  crest  his  little  party 
is  ensconced.  The  moon,  still  on  her  upward  climb, 
throws  the  shadows  of  the  bold  spur  well  down  the 
more  gradual  slope  before  him,  but  he  pauses  a  moment 
to  reconnoitre.  Another  hundred  yards,  probably,  he 
may  hope  to  venture  without  discovery  from  the  lurk 
ing  foe.  After  that,  broad  moonlit  spaces  interpose 
between  the  shadows  and  the  cool,  rushing  torrent  in 
the  gorge.  Heavens !  how  tantalizing  is  its  music 
now  !  How  torturing  to  the  poor  fellows  lying  fevered 
there  upon  the  bluff,  praying  for  even  one  drop  of  blessed 
moisture  from  the  wealth  it  is  tossing  over  those  sense 
less  rocks.  Another  time  how  he  could  have  revelled 
in  the  scene  before  him  :  the  moonlight  glinting  on 
those  lofty  palisades  across  the  deep  ravine  and  silver 
ing  every  boulder,  spur,  and  tree-top,  forming  such  con 
trast  with  the  long  black  shadows  thrown  across  the 
nearer  slope,  the  deep  gloom  of  every  crevice  and 
recess  on  the  other  side ;  but  to-night  nature  is  leagued 
with  her  savage  children  against  the  alien  pale-face. 
Anywhere,  everywhere  among  those  opposite  shadows 
the  enemy  may  be  in  hiding.  No  man  can  prophesy 
from  what  point  the  flame  may  leap  and  speed  the 
deadly  bullet.  If  it  were  only  cloudy,  only  reasonably 
dark,  Blake  might  reach  the  tumbling  waters  unob 
served  ;  but  it  is  almost  as  light  as  day. 

No  time  to  waste. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  451 

11  If  it  wer«  done,  when  'tis  done,  then  'twere  well 
It  were  done  quickly," 

he  mutters  to  himself,  old  habits  cropping  to  the  sur 
face  now.  He  loosens  his  hold  on  the  branch  of  a 
little  pine,  bends  low,  his  right  hand  grasping  the  re 
volver  in  case  he  comes  suddenly  upon  the  hidden  foe, 
and  then  goes  scudding  down  the  slope,  making  for  a 
tree  at  the  edge  of  the  shadow,  a  tree  that  bends 
almost  double  like  himself.  No  matter  if  the  canteens 
clink  a  little  now,  the  roar  of  the  water  is  near  enough 
to  deaden  the  sound. 

Another  minute  and,  unmolested  thus  far,  he  has 
reached  this  gnarled  and  stunted  oak,  and  now  only  a 
hundred  yards  farther  he  can  see  the  white  spray  of 
the  torrent  sparkling  in  the  moonlight,  and  a  back 
ward  glance  reveals  the  outline  of  the  bold  bluff,  like 
some  sturdy  castle,  double  the  distance  and  in  rear  of 
him.  Now  for  the  sternest  work  of  all.  Something 
tugging  at  his  heartstrings  seems  to  bid  Gerald  Blake 
look  back  over  his  life,  bid  him  lift  to  heaven  a  prayer 
for  the  soul  that  any  instant  now  may  be  set  free  from 
its  earthly  tenement  and  floating  through  space  illimit 
able  to  the  presence  of  its  Maker.  But  even  that 
thought  he  stifles.  No  time  for  overhauling  the  past. 
"Act,  act  in  the  living  present,"  he  mutters.  "And 
God  help  me  to  help  those  poor  fellows  up  the  heights. " 

Out  to  the  edge  of  the  tree's  shadow  he  crouches, 
then  drops  upon  his  knees.  Some  one  is  moving  on 
the  trail  below.  More  than  some  one, — three,  four, 
five, — he  counts  five  ghostly  shadows  springing  noise 
lessly  down  the  ravine,  Indians  beyond  question.  They 


452  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

are  afoot,  which  is  unusual.  They  are  hastening  north 
ward.  What  does  it  mean  ?  Can  it  be  that  Foster  is 
right?  Can  it  be  that  comrades  are  coming,  that  the 
Indian  watchers  have  spied  them,  and  that  now  all 
hands  are  slipping  away  to  ambuscade  them  as  they 
enter  the  gorge?  Even  as  he  kneels,  his  heart  thump 
ing  hard,  his  knees  and  hands  trembling  with  excite 
ment,  Blake  catches  sight  of  three  more  warriors  hurry 
ing  in  pursuit  of  the  first.  It  can  mean  nothing  else. 
It  must  mean  that  they  are  speeding  down  to  trap  the 
coming  force,  whatever  it  may  be.  Warning  must 
reach  it,  or  the  would-be  rescuers  will  be  dead  men. 
First,  then,  water  for  the  wounded,  then  signals  for  their 
coming  friends. 

Still  crouching,  he  runs  nimbly  down  the  slope;  he 
picks  the  shortest  line  from  bush  to  bush  ;  he  half 
slides,  half  leaps  down  the  steeper  bank  as  he  nears  the 
stream,  and  one  minute  more,  all  a-tremble,  he  has 
reached  the  edge  of  a  deep  pool  just  above  the  fall,  has 
plunged  his  hands  and  face  into  the  cool  water,  drink 
ing  long,  deep  draughts,  and  then,  hardly  stopping  to 
unsling  them,  flat  upon  a  broad  shelving  rock  he  is 
thrusting  his  canteens  under  water,  laying,  meantime, 
his  ready  revolver  by  his  side.  Two  minutes  suffice 
to  fill  them,  to  thrust  home  the  stoppers,  and  then, 
dripping,  he  rises  to  his  feet,  and  taking  up  his  pistol, 
with  one  swift  glance  around,  strides  quickly  back  the 
way  he  came.  Not  ten  steps  has  he  gone  when  there 
is  a  whish  as  of  the  wing  of  a  night-hawk  past  his 
ears;  a  second  more  a  sharp  "spang,"  and  another 
whiz  tell  him  that  one  canteen  has  been  struck.  Some 
thing  flits  across  his  eyes  in  the  moonlight,  and  at  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  453 

same  instant  there  flashes  through  his  brain  the  expla 
nation — arrows!  He  is  seen  ;  his  pursuers  are  close  at 
hand.  They  dare  not  use  fire-arms,  for  fear  of  spoiling 
the  ambuscade  below.  They  mean  to  bring  him  down 
with  their  feathered  shafts.  One  instant  more  and 
Blake,  zigzagging  right  and  left,  though  hampered  by 
his  pounding  canteens,  goes  springing  up  the  hill-side 
like  a  born  Apache.  The  next  moment  three  warriors 
leap  from  cover  in  pursuit.  He  is  burdened  ;  they  are 
free.  They  come  skimming  up  the  slope,  swift  almost 
as  their  own  arrows,  and  when  Blake  reaches  the  partial 
shelter  of  the  big  tree  he  goes  down  in  a  heap,  pierced 
through  and  through  the  left  thigh,  rolls  on  his  back, 
takes  deliberate  aim  at  the  nearmost  Indian,  who,  crouch 
ing,  is  just  setting  another  arrow  ;  and  then  the  crags 
echo  the  loud  bang  of  his  Colt  and  resound  to  his  sten 
torian  shout, — 

"  This  way,  Foster  !  This  way,  lads  !" 
Zip  !  comes  another  arrow  through  the  branches. 
Bang  goes  the  Colt  a  second  time,  answered  by  a 
guttural  cry  below  and  by  a  rattling  volley  of  carbines 
and  a  cheer  of  defiance  and  exultation  from  above. 
Again  he  aims  and  fires.  Again  he  shouts  his  rallying 
call.  And  then,  tearing  down  the  steep  decline,  he 
hears  his  fellows  coming.  He  hears  Foster's  brave 
young  voice,  hailing,  "Where  are  you,  Blake?"  He 
hears  the  loud  ring  of  shot  after  shot  close  at  hand. 
He  hears  the  sudden  crashing  volley  far  down  the 
ravine;  a  glorious  burst  of  distant  cheers;  a  rattling 
fusillade,  a  crash  of  a  hundred  hoofs.  He  hears  loud, 
joyous,  welcoming  shouts  around  him  ;  defiant,  furious 
war-whoops  across  the  fire-flashing  shadows  of  the 


454  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

gorge.  He  is  conscious  of  a  louder  singing  in  his  ear«, 
of  a  swimming  of  the  head,  of  a  deadly  faintn ess  creep 
ing  over  him,  despite  his  every  effort.  He  hears  a  rush 
as  of  thunder  up  the  trail  across  the  stream.  He  real 
izes  that  bearded  horsemen  are  plunging  through,  over, 
across,  and  then  panting  up  the  slopes,  greeted  by  mad 
cheers  from  the  bluff  above  and  from  the  Riflers  rush 
ing  to  his  support.  He  dimly  realizes  that  a  tall, 
stalwart  soldier  has  thrown  himself  from  saddle  to  his 
side  and  is  clasping  him  in  a  pair  of  brawny  arms. 
And  then  everything  seems  to  fade  utterly  away  as  he 
murmurs, — 

"  Tommy  Hollis,  you've  got  more  lives  than  a  d>)zen 
cats." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  455 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE  days  of  jubilee  bad  come  at  last.  The  nights 
of  vigil  and  prayer  and  dread  anxiety  were  gone. 
Once  more  the  old  fort  was  merry  with  music  and 
cheery  voices,  for  the  — th  were  home  for  good.  What 
wondrous  welcome  had  they  when  the  long  column  of 
bearded  troopers,  stalwart  and  sun-tanned,  rode  jaunt 
ily  into  the  post;  the  very  horses  pricking  up  their 
ears  and  looking  as  though  they  recognized  every  bat 
tered  chimney  and  wind-racked  gable.  The  band 
played  its  most  rollicking  marches.  The  women  and 
children  from  "  Sudsville"  fairly  screamed  with  de 
light  as,  one  after  another,  some  familiar  and  beloved 
face  could  be  distinguished  through  the  dust  that  coated 
the  war-worn  features.  Over  across  the  parade,  along 
the  verandas,  the  ladies  were  gathered  in  joyous  bevies, 
while  the  little  ones,  gayly  dressed  in  holiday  garb, 
danced  and  shouted  with  impatient  glee.  The  long 
line  formed  once  more  on  the  old,  well-known  parade. 
The  colonel  said  brief  word  of  commendation  to  his 
men.  The  standard  was  duly  conveyed  to  head-quar 
ters.  The  troops  were  dismissed  to  stables,  and  then 
came  the  rush  of  officers  to  the  waiting  groups  along 
the  row.  A  dozen,  carriages  and  vehicles  of  various 
sorts  had  driven  out  from  town,  and  many  of  them  ac 
companied  the  regiment  on  its  march  from  the  railway 


456  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

station.  There  was  little  time  now  to  pay  attention  to 
the  occupants,  but  no  one  who  looked  could  fail  to  re 
mark  the  elegance  of  Mrs.  Leavitt's  toilet  and  equi 
page,  even  though  there  were  women  who  raved  at  her 
in  their  hearts  when  she  deliberately  drove  up  in  front 
of  the  quarters  and  reined  in  across  the  way,  directly 
over  against  the  group  gathered  at  the  Stannards'  gate. 
That  being  a  central  position,  most  of  the  officers  rode 
thither  at  once,  and  Mrs.  Leavitt's  manoauvre  placed 
her  conspicuously  between  these  home-coming  warriors 
and  the  "  ladies  of  their  love."  Hers,  therefore,  was 
the  first  smile,  hers  the  first  welcoming  voice,  hers  the 
first  beaming  face  to  greet  them,  and  Mrs.  Wilkins 
hardly  had  a  word  with  which  to  hail  her  burly  liege, 
such  was  the  wrath  and  volubility  of  her  denunciation 
of  this  utterly  indecorous  proceeding.  True,  not  a 
man  checked  the  rapid  trot  of  his  horse  or  paused  to 
speak  with  her.  There  was  a  general  doffing  of  the 
battered  campaign  hats  and  a  few  perfunctory  bobs  of 
the  head  ;  but  one  and  all  they  hastened  on,  even  the 
bachelors,  for  the  moment  old  Stanuard  caught  sight 
of  Mrs.  Leavitt  he  seemed  to  divine  her  object.  "  Well, 
if  that  woman  hasn't  the  cheek  of  a  cat.  Don't  stop, 
whatever  you  do,"  he  muttered,  as  he  touched  his 
charger  with  the  spur.  And  so  even  "  the  boys"  rode 
briskly  by,  some  few  of  the  officers  making  a  conspic 
uously  wide  detour,  am]  one  of  these  was  Tommy  Hol- 
lis,  whom  the  garrison  was  ready  to  welcome  with  open 
arms. 

"With  weeping  and  with  laughter,"  indeed,  again 
and  again  had  the  tale  been  told  of  Tommy's  exploit 
on  the  Yampah  trail.  A  long,  toilsome  march  had 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  457 

Stannard  made,  even  before  he  crossed  the  railway. 
Horses  and  men  were  grievously  worn,  when  from  flee 
ing  settlers  he  learned  how  Blake  with  his  little  band 
lay  beleaguered  in  the  Manitou  Pass,  hemmed  in  by 
the  whole  insurgent  band.  It  was  impossible  with 
jaded  horses  to  greatly  increase  the  speed,  though  Stan 
nard  meant  to  march  night  and  day.  But,  as  luck 
would  have  it,  one  troop  had  been  detached  and  had 
had  a  two-days'  rest  at  the  railway.  Gregg's  horses, 
therefore,  were  comparatively  fresh,  and  Hollis  eagerly 
sought  permission  to  mount  forty  light-weight  troopers 
upon  them,  to  leave  behind  their  blankets,  side-lines, 
every  weighty  or  cumbrous  item  except  arms  and  am 
munition,  and  to  make  a  forced  march  to  the  relief  of 
Blake.  Hollis,  too,  had  taken  to  hunting  since  his 
slow  convalescence  from  what,  three  years  before,  had 
been  considered  a  fatal  wound.  He  knew  the  country 
well,  and  was  sure  he  could  make  his  way  to  Blake, 
and  that,  once  together,  they  could  stand  off  the  foe 
until  Stannard  and  the  battalion  could  reach  them. 
The  veteran  major  never  hesitated  an  instant.  Gregg's 
heavy  men  turned  over  their  fresh  horses  to  the  two- 
score  featherweights  selected  by  the  four  troop  com 
manders,  and  half  an  hour  later,  with  hearty  Godspeed 
from  all,  away  went  Hollis,  disappearing  in  a  cloud  of 
dust  far  down  the  road,  leaving  the  battalion  to  come 
jogging  sturdily  after.  All  the  livelong  day  they  al 
ternated  walk,  trot,  and  gallop,  stopping  only  to  water 
at  the  few  streams  they  crossed,  and  just  at  sunset  the 
little  band,  armed  to  the  teeth  and  ready  for  anything, 
rode  across  the  last  divide  and  came  in  sight  of  the 
dark  rift  in  the  Snow-Cloud  range, 
u  39 


458  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

"  There's  the  Manitou  !"  shouted  Hollis  to  his  men  ; 
and  again  they  quickened  the  gait.  It  was  no  mirage, 
therefore,  on  the  northern  sky  that  Foster  had  seen ; 
nor  were  they  ghosts  who  flitted  through  the  moonlit 
patch  two  hours  later.  Knowing  well  that  his  coming 
would  be  watched,  Hollis  had  here  thrown  forward  a 
small  advance-guard  and  moved  with  caution,  scouting 
every  defile  and  searching  every  grove  until  the  sud 
den  sound  of  firing  up  the  pass  told  him  he  was  within 
rifle-range  of  his  comrades.  Then  all  else  was  for 
gotten,  and  one  impetuous  rush  carried  him  through. 
An  hour's  sharp  fighting  had  followed  his  dash,  but 
Blake  and  his  precious  canteens  were  carefully  borne 
to  the  rocky  fortress  up  the  heights.  Then  Riflers  and 
troopers  united,  and,  with  abundant  ammunition  now, 
they  turned  fiercely  on  the  foe,  and,  though  the  Indians 
hung  all  about  them  another  long  day  until  Stannard's 
guidons  came  fluttering  into  view  and  Billy  Ray's 
skirmish-line  sent  the  painted  devils  tumbling  over 
the  eastern  ridge,  the  besiegers  were  only  too  glad  to 
keep  at  a  distance,  and  content  themselves  with  pot 
shots  from  the  crest  across  the  gorge. 

And  then  with  another  day  the  ambulances  reached 
them,  and  the  wounded  were  tenderly  and  carefully 
borne  down  the  hill-side  and  trundled  off  by  slow 
marches  to  the  railway,  and  so  back  to  Russell,  where 
loving  hearts  and  hands  awaited  their  coming;  where 
the  women  folk  in  congress  assembled  decided  that  it 
was  Captain  Blake's  misfortune,  and  not  entirely  his 
fault,  that  he  had  no  devoted  wife  to  nurse  and  care 
for  him,  as  had  his  gallant  comrade  Hayne.  And  so 
they  invaded  his  bachelor  den  and  put  it  in  habitable 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  459 

and  attractive  shape  hours  before  the  train  with  the 
wounded  arrived ;  and  thither  the  long-legged  patient 
was  borne;  and  there  he  was  nursed  and  coddled,  and 
fed  with  every  dainty  feminine  ingenuity  could  devise ; 
and  there  he  lay  propped  up  on  the  sofa,  with  two  or 
three  charming  visitors  to  read  or  talk  to  him  every 
afternoon;  and  there  he  scrawled  facetious  notes  to 
Hayne,  whose  wound  was  far  more  severe,  and  sent 
them  by  his  "  Milesian  Mercury,"  as  he  called  Hogan. 
And  there  every  evening,  when  Doctor  Pease  would  per 
mit,  the  officers  would  drop  in  for  an  hour's  chat,  and 
with  every  day  the  patient's  spirits  soared  higher  and 
higher,  and  people  began  to  remark  how  like  the  old 
Blake  he  was  again.  Between  himself  and  Ross  of 
the  Riflers,  who  was  as  marked  a  specimen  of  the  stout 
and  burly  type  as  Blake  was  of  the  long  and  spare, 
the  fire  of  chaff  was  incessant.  For  years  the  former 
had  reviled  the  slender  shanks  of  his  trooper  friend, 
and  now  Blake  triumphantly  demanded  what  he  had 
to  say,  since  they  had  proved  invaluable  in  such  a 
crisis.  Ross  responded  that  in  Blake's  exploit,  where 
invisibility  was  a  prime  requisite,  such  legs  would  cer 
tainly  "  fill  the  bill,"  though  they  could  never  by  any 
possibility  fill  anything  else.  Blake  pronounced  the 
episode  a  just  retribution  on  his  "  doughboy"  detractors, 
and  provoked  a  groan  of  dismay  by  immediate  reference 
to  his  case  as  a  modern  instance  of  the  laws  of  retali 
ation.  "Here's  '  Legs  TaglioniV  himself!"  he  de 
clared, — a  verbal  contortion  which,  to  the  credit  of 
his  hearers,  only  a  few  of  them  understood  and  only 
one  appreciated  at  its  full  value, — Doctor  Pease,  who 
instantly  ordered  the  patient  on  half-diet  for  the 


460  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

week  to  come.  Ross  used  to  stop  at  the  hall  and 
affably  ask  how  fared  it  with  "  the  lean  and  slippered 
pantaloon,"  and  Blake,  unable  to  leave  his  sofa  or  re 
clining  chair,  would  hurl  slippers  and  Shakespeare  at 
him  through  the  door- way ;  and  thus  were  they  engaged 
one  lovely  sunshiny  morning  just  before  the  — th  came 
home,  when  Ross,  dodging  an  old  shoe  and  deprecating 
a  distorted  quotation,  nearly  tumbled  over  two  fair 
ladies  entering,  jelly-laden,  and  one  of  these  was  Mrs. 
Freeman.  Ross  presently  found,  as  he  had  occasion 
ally  before,  that  he  was  needed  elsewhere. 

Warm  and  beautiful  were  the  mornings  of  that  early 
October,  and  there  was  gladness  unspeakable  in  every 
face  along  the  familiar  old  row  in  the  week  that  fol 
lowed  the  — th's  return.  All  the  livelong  day  the 
officers  were  busily  occupied  straightening  out  the 
troops  after  the  dusty  summer's  campaign.  Colonel, 
majors,  captains,  and  subalterns  were  at  work  till  even 
ing  gunfire,  excepting  only  those  who,  like  Blake  and 
Hayne,  were  invalided  and  could  only  be  nursed  and 
made  much  of.  And  these  were  halcyon  days  for 
"  Legs,"  especially  after  he  was  well  enough  to  hobble 
about  the  post  and  choose  his  own  company,  for  then 
it  transpired  that  he  was  spending  morning  after  morn 
ing  in  Mrs.  Freeman's  pretty  parlor,  while  the  children 
were  at  their  studies  and  the  fair  hostess  was  "  on 
household  cares  intent."  And  the  ladies  who  came 
bustling  in  would  stop  short  at  the  parlor  door  and 
say  "  Oh  !"  or  "  Ah  !"  in  tone  and  manner  most  signifi 
cant,  and  then  declare  they  had  merely  come  to  see 
Mrs.  Freeman  just  a  minute,  and  would  trot  up-stairs 
or  out  into  the  dining-room,  or  even  invade  the  kitchen, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  \§\ 

after  the  manner  of  intimate  acquaintanceship  on  the 
frontier ;  and  Mrs.  Freeman  herself  was  looking  even 
blither,  bonnier,  happier  than  ever,  with  such  a  merry 
and  mysterious  sparkle  in  her  eyes,  such  ready  dim 
pling  smiles,  such  sage  noddings  of  the  head,  when  she 
and  Mrs.  Atherton  got  together  for  a  semi-occasional 
conference.  And  the  Crawfords  had  gone  on  to  Cali 
fornia  to  look  after  certain  interests  that  that  successful 
business-man  had  acquired  in  the  land  of  gold  and 
grape  and  orange ;  but  Nannie  Bryan  had  thought  she 
would  rather  stay  with  dear  Mrs.  Freeman  until  their 
return,  for  Mrs.  Freeman  could  not  bear  to  let  her  go. 
And  they  were  gone  all  October,  and  did  not  re 
appear  at  Russell  until  after  the  snowflakes  and  the 
whistling  gales  began  to  warn  the  garrison  that  the 
long,  long  winter  would  soon  be  upon  them ;  and  even 
these  warnings  brought  no  dismay  to  the  army  colony. 
Once  again  the  evening  dances  were  in  full  blast. 
Once  again  the  theatricals  were  organized  with  Tommy 
Hollis — "  Helpful  Tommy" — as  manager  and  director. 
Once  again  the  bachelors  led  off  with  the  opening  ball, 
and  the  neighboring  garrisons  were  bidden,  and  there 
was  solemn  conference  among  the  youngsters  as  to  the 
distribution  of  invitations  in  town,  and  it  was  decided 
that  Judge  and  Mrs.  Leavitt  could  not  be  omitted  from 
the  list,  despite  the  fact  that  there  was  war  between 
them  and  the  Morrises,  estrangement  between  them 
and  the  rector,  and  strained  relations  between  them 
and  almost  every  household  at  the  post.  It  was  hoped 
she  would  not  come.  It  was  predicted  that  she 
would ;  and  the  prediction  was  well  founded.  She 
appeared  in  a  gown  that  made  the  women  gasp  with 

39* 


462  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

admiration.  She  never  looked  more  radiant,  more 
brilliantly  beautiful.  She  was  grace,  gayety,  joyous- 
ness  personified.  She  danced  untiringly,  sometimes 
with  Foster,  with  Graham,  Webster,  and  Corry,  tvho 
as  givers  of  the  feast  were  in  honor  bound  to  see  that 
proper  attention  was  paid  to  every  guest,  but  mainly 
with  a  new-comer  in  Cheyenne,  a  tall  young  civilian 
from  the  far  East,  who  had  embarked  in  the  cattle 
trade,  and  who  had  speedily  fallen  a  victim  to  her  fas 
cinations,  and  was  now  her  very  shadow ;  a  youth  who 
scowled  and  bit  his  nails  when  she  was  dancing  with 
her  soldier-partners,  and  who  rather  too  evidently 
allowed  Mrs.  Atherton  and  others  to  see  that  in  asking 
them  for  waltz  or  gallop  he  was  acting  under  instruc 
tions.  Mrs.  Atherton  smiled  benignly  upon  him  and 
told  him  she  was  so  sorry  he  was  too  late,  but  every 
thing  was  taken.  But  she  and  Mrs.  Gregg,  who  were 
receiving  for  "  the  boys,"  were  simply  irreproachable  in 
the  greeting  they  gave  the  Leavitts  when  they  came, 
and  in  the  apparent  reluctance  of  their  parting  when, 
leaning  upon  the  judicial  arm,  and  with  her  embryo 
cattle-grower  in  attendance,  madame  said  good-night 
soon  after  the  german  began.  To  the  unspoken  relief 
of  everybody  she  had  declined  to  dance  it,  so  Hull  is 
might  just  as  well  have  led,  after  all.  As  it  was,  he 
seemed  completely  happy  in  having  Mrs.  Freeman  for 
a  partner  ;  and  time  and  again  that  night  men  came  to 
Freeman  to  say  that  never  had  they  seen  her  looking 
so  blithe  and  well,  when  what  they  thought  and  what 
they  said  to  themselves  and  one  another  was  that  never 
had  she  looked  so  lovely.  The  tall  dragoon's  eyes 
glistened  as  he  watched  her,  and  well  they  might. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  463 

There  was  a  similar  look  in  Jack  Truscott's  bronzed 
face.  There  was  almost  the  same  light  in  Pet  Hayne's 
blue  eyes,  as  he  lay  in  a  reclining  chair  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  hall.  There  was  something  of  the  same 
expression  in  "  Leggy"  Blake's  lined  visage,  as  he  sat 
beside  his  fellow-invalid.  Probably  each  man  was 
trying  not  to  show  the  worship  that  filled  his  heart. 
Three  of  them  were  utterly  in  love  with  their  own 
wives,  and  one  at  last  had  realized  that,  despite  his 
years  of  thraldom,  he  had  learned  to  love  anew,  and 
this  time  with  an  intensity,  with  a  passion  and  rever 
ence  and  tenderness  and  humility  that  seemed  at  times 
to  overpower  him.  What  had  he,  almost  twice  her 
years,  battered  in  service  and  stained  with  the  knowl 
edge  of  that  old  and  shameful  servitude,  to  offer  one 
so  pure  and  radiant  as  the  fair  young  girl  about  whom 
all  the  men  were  clustering  to-night.  Mrs.  Granger 
Leavitt,  who  had  made  her  adieux  all  smiles  and  radi 
ance,  spoke  not  one  word  to  her  gloomy  lord  upon  the 
homeward  drive.  She  had  heard  the  rumors  that  were 
afloat.  She  read  the  transformation  in  her  whilom 
lover's  eyes,  and  knew  that  now,  at  last,  her  power 
with  him  was  gone  forever. 

And  all  through  that  joyous  evening  it  was  some 
thing  worth  noting  that  every  few  minutes  there  would 
be  a  cluster  of  fair  women  about  those  reclining  chairs 
at  the  end  of  the  hall  where  sat,  like  sultans  euthroned, 
the  two  wounded  officers.  The  "Cripples'  Delight" 
Blake  had  dubbed  their  corner.  Mrs.  Hayne  was  one 
of  the  loveliest  of  lovely  pictures  at  the  ball,  and, 
"  troopers  and  plodders"  both,  the  young  officers  hov 
ered  about  her  pleading  for  dances.  Her  fair  face  was 


464  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

flushed,  her  eyes  sparkling  with  pleasure;  yet  after 
every  number  she  would  find  a  way  to  guide  her  part 
ner  to  that  corner  where  Pet  reclined  upon  his  cush 
ions,  and  there  to  bend  over  to  assure  herself  he  was 
not  getting  wearied.  She  would  promise  no  dance  after 
midnight,  which  hour  Pease  had  fixed  as  the  limit  of 
his  patient's  stay,  and  Colonel  Atherton's  own  easy 
carriage  was  at  the  door  to  bear  them  homewards  when, 
with  half  the  men  in  the  room  about  them,  and  Doctor 
Grimes  in  close  attendance,  the  young  infantryman  and 
his  charming  bride  withdrew.  But  Blake  was  further 
advanced  in  his  recovery  and  was  accorded  longer  stay, 
and  there  he  sat  for  another  hour  watching  the  mazes 
of  that  lovely  german  and  trying  not  to  show  that  he 
was  watching,  with  his  heart  in  his  eyes,  the  tall,  grace 
ful,  exquisite  girl  whom  Mr.  Clark  was  so  lucky  as  to 
have  for  partner.  All  through  the  evening  Blake  and 
Hayne  had  been  holding  a  genuine  levee,  but  now  that 
Hayne  was  gone  and  the  german  was  fairly  begun,  and 
many  of  the  elders  among  the  townsfolk  had  retired, 
and  many  among  the  older  officers  had  betaken  them 
selves  to  whist,  "  Legs"  was  left  more  to  himself,  and 
was  silently,  wistfully  gazing  on  the  animated  scene. 
What  memories  came  surging  up  in  his  mind  as  he 
looked  along  the  brightly-lighted  hall,  with  all  its  mar 
tial  blazonry  of  flags  and  bayonets,  guidons  and  sabres, 
trumpets  and  drums.  How  well  he  recalled  the  first 
time  he  saw  it  so  decorated.  It  was  the  night  before 
he  marched  with  Billy  Ray  and  that  big  detachment 
of  recruits  to  meet  the  — th  at  the  close  of  the  Sioux 
campaign.  It  was  the  night — ah,  well  he  remembered 
it — when  Kay  had  stepped  forward  under  that  very 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  465 

chandelier  where  Miss  Sanford  was  standing  with  all 
that  bevy  of  beaux  about  her,  and  had  borne  her  away, 
practically,  for  good  and  all.  She,  the  belle  and  beauty 
of  the  season,  had  learned  to  love  his  gallant  friend 
and  was  glad  to  share  his  lot  and  be  a  soldier's  wife. 
Blake,  shading  his  eyes  with  his  hand,  could  almost 
fancy  he  saw  them  now,  gliding  slowly  about  the  room, 
her  lovely  face  suffused,  her  eyes  downcast,  and  his  so 
full  of  hope  and  resolution.  He  could  see  them  as 
they  turned  suddenly  to  that  very  door-way  where 
Ray  snatched  his  cavalry  cape  from  the  chair,  and  to 
gether  they  vanished  from  the  hall,  followed  by  the 
sweet,  plaintive  strains  of  Immortellen.  He  could  see 
the  radiance  in  Billy's  face  when,  ten  minutes  later,  they 
reappeared,  and  the  shy,  tremulous  joy  in  hers.  He  re 
membered  vividly  the  clasp  of  his  comrade's  hand  that, 
the  moment  they  were  alone,  told  the  whole  glad  story. 
What  infinite  happiness  had  been  Ray's  !  What  per 
fect  recompense  for  all  the  trials  and  trouble  of  his 
past !  Why  could  not  he  too  find  such  joy  to  crown 
his  life  ?  God  knows  he  had  had  suffering  as  keen  as 
Ray ;  but,  ah,  how  different  had  been  their  lives ! 
What  hope  could  he  have  with  all  the  humiliating  story 
of  that  first  love,  that  long,  wasted  love,  staring  him 
in  the  face  ?  He  did  not  dare  think  of  that  and  then 
of  Nannie  Bryan.  How  well  he  recalled  the  first  night 
the  child  had  sat  by  his  side,  peeping  through  that  c:tn- 
vas  screen  upon  the  brilliant  german  of  three  years 
ago ;  he,  absorbed  in  watching  Madeleine  Granger  and 
utterly  ignoring  the  slender  girl  who  gazed  so  piteously 
in  his  face,  as  though  begging  forgiveness  for  having 
unwittingly  cost  him  the  privilege  of  dancing  with  the 


466  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

belle  of  the  ball.  Heavens,  how  the  recollection  stung 
him  !  He  looked  upon  the  old  familiar  stage  and  be 
thought  him  of  still  another  night,  that  night  of  min 
gled  mirth  and  madness,  of  exasperation  at  one  inbtant, 
of  thrilling  and  delirious  triumph  the  next.  He  could 
hear  that  siren  voice  even  at  this  moment,  as  with  her 
soft  warm  lips  so  close  to  his  face  she  murmured, 
"Don't  you  know  I  would  do  that  always  now?"  He 
shuddered,  actually  shuddered,  at  the  recollection,  and 
instinctively  covered  his  face  with  his  hand. 

The  next  thing  Blake  knew,  a  charming  woman  was 
bending  over  him.  There  was  a  sudden  outburst,  an 
irrepressible  clapping  of  hands,  for  Mrs.  Atherton, 
instead  of  carrying  to  some  dancing  man  her  favor  — 
a  little  silver  bell, — was  smilingly  pinning  it  on  the 
breast  of  Blake's  uniform. 

"  There,  sir,  you  shan't  sit  here  looking  tired  and 
wistful,  if  I  can  help  it.  I'm  only  sorry  you  can't 
dance ;  so  is  somebody  else  I  know  of,"  said  her  lady 
ship,  as  with  sage  and  significant  nods  she  surveyed  her 
work  and  laughingly  waved  her  handkerchief  to  the 
applauding  throng.  Blake  seized  her  hand  and 
straightened  up  in  his  chair,  all  the  old  gladness  of 
his  nature  summoned  to  instant  life  by  the  womanly 
tact  and  sympathy. 

"  I'll  kiss  thy  foot.  I'll  swear  myself  thy  subject," 
he  declaimed,  as  he  gazed  up  into  her  laughing  eyes, 
and  then,  before  he  could  bend  forward  to  press  his 
lips  in  homage  upon  the  dainty  glove,  Mrs.  Freeman 
was  at  his  side.  She,  too,  was  busily  affixing  another 
tiny  bell  upon  his  breast.  In  ten  minutes  Blake  dis 
covered,  to  his  huge  delight,  that  the  ladies  of  the  — th 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  467 

were  making  him  the  hero  of  the  evening ;  for,  one 
after  another,  they  came  to  decorate  him  with  their 
pretty  favors,  and  presently  their  example  was  fol 
lowed  oy  the  girls  from  town.  By  the  time  the  fourth 
figure  was  finished,  Blake's  uniform  was  all  rainbowed 
with  fluttering  ribbon  and  sparkling  with  bells  and 
fans.  Tommy  Hollis  was  the  only  man  who  could 
begin  to  compete  with  him,  and  still  he  was  not  happy, 
for  one  sweet  girl  had  held  aloof. 

"  Blake,"  said  old  Pease,  as  the  dancers  were  prom 
enading  the  room  before  the  fifth  figure  began,  "  'twas 
time  for  you  to  go  two  hours  ago.  Now,  go  you've 
got  to.  The  ambulance  is  waiting,  and  so  am  I." 

Blake  rose  reluctant.  He  glanced  quickly  about 
the  crowded  room,  though  he  knew  she  was  not  there. 
He  had  seen  her  but  a  moment  before  disappearing 
with  Mrs.  Freeman  and  their  partners  for  a  stroll  upon 
the  piazza  without — the  same  door  through  which  Ray 
and  Marion  Sanford  had  vanished  that  memorable 
night  so  long  ago.  It  was  Clark  whose  arm  Miss 
Nan  had  taken,  whose  cavalry  circular  was  even  now 
wrapped  about  her  pretty  shoulders.  Blake  limped 
painfully  away  at  the  doctor's  side,  striving  to  reach 
that  door  unnoticed.  He  did  not  want  to  have  to  say 
good-night  to  any  one.  If  go  he  must,  he  would  slink 
away  unseen. 

"Get  my  cape,  will  you,  Doc?"  he  said.  "Til  go 
right  to  the  door." 

But  there  stood  some  town  carriages  instead  of  the 
ambulance.  To  reach  the  latter  he  had  to  hobble  a 
dozen  yards  further  up  the  narrow  porch, — to  go 
straight  towards  those  chatting  groups  of  fair  women 


468  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

and  attendant  cavaliers.  He  heard  Mrs.  Wilkins's 
jovial  voice  and  Mrs.  Truscott's  happy  laughter.  He 
caught  sight  of  Mrs.  Freeman's  bonny  face,  the  light 
that  streamed  from  a  window  gleaming  through  the 
red  gold  of  her  hair,  and  then,  just  behind  her,  came 
the  lovely  girlish  face,  the  tall  slender  form  he  had 
grown  to  worship.  Sadly  for  a  moment  he  gazed 
upon  her,  and  then,  sudden  and  all  in  an  instant,  a 
swift,  wild  hope,  an  almost  delirious  joy  possessed 
him.  Plainly  he  saw  that  as  they  reached  the  window 
she  had  stooped  and  peered  into  the  hall  directly 
towards  the  corner  where  he  had  been  sitting  all  the 
evening.  Plainly  he  saw  the  quick,  sudden  change 
that  overspread  her  radiant  face.  Plainly  he  saw  that 
she  had  stopped  short,  swept  the  room  with  anxious, 
searching  glance,  and  then,  as  though  conscious  of  this 
self-betrayal,  had  as  quickly  recovered  herself  and 
taken  her  escort's  arm. 

"  Shall  we  go  in,  Mrs.  Freeman  ?"  he  heard  her  say. 
"  It  must  be  time  for  the  next  figure."  And  then 
Blake  held  forth  a  trembling  hand. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Blake !"  cried  Mrs.  Freeman,  ignoring 
the  recent  double  bars  and  clinging  to  the  title  of  their 
years  of  friendship.  "  Surely  you're  not  going  yet  and 
— and,"  with  odd  irrelevance,  "  Nannie's  last  ball.  I 
hadn't  dreamed  of  such  a  thing !" 

"  But  it's  after  two  and  high  time  we  were  going  as 
well,"  quoth  Freeman  who  suddenly  appeared.  "  Blake, 
suppose  you  give  these  women  folks  a  lift  in  the  am 
bulance.  I  will  fetch  their  wraps;  and,  just  wait  in 
the  house  until  I  come,  and  we'll  have  a  glass  of  Clic 
quot  to  wind  up  with." 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  469 

What  marvels  of  contrariety  some  women  are !  At 
any  other  time  would  not  Mrs.  Freeman  have  pleaded 
for  just  one  more  dance?  Would  not  so  young  and 
enthusiastic  a  maiden  as  Nannie  Bryan  have  begged  to 
be  allowed  to  finish  that  most  delightful  german  ?  How 
was  it, — why  was  it  that  the  latter  should  have  hung 
there  shy  and  silent? — that  Mrs.  Freeman,  who  had 
been  the  picture  of  animation  and  life  and  health  all  the 
evening,  should  suddenly  discover  that  she  was  really 
tired  ?  She  had  no  idea  it  was  anywhere  near  so  late. 
It  was  scandalous.  Here  the  Crawfords  would  be 
back  from  California  on  the  morrow ;  and  Nan  would 
be  looking  pale  and  dragged,  instead  of  the  blooming 
maid  they  had  left.  It  would  never  do.  In  vain 
Hollis  pleaded  ;  she  bade  him  go  and  finish  the  german 
with  some  of  those  pretty  girls  and  indefatigable  dancers 
from  town.  She  sprang  lightly  into  the  ambulance, 
told  her  husband  to  say  good-night  for  them,  summoned 
Nannie  to  follow,  then  Clark  and  Pease  between  them 
boosted  their  silent  friend  into  the  dark  interior. 
"  Drive  to  Captain  Freeman's,"  said  the  doctor ;  and 
how  it  happened  Blake  never  quite  could  tell,  but  he 
found  himself  seated  by  Nannie  Bryan's  side,  well  for 
ward  in  the  gloomy  vehicle,  and  Mrs.  Freeman  had 
slid  sidewise  along  the  opposite  cushion  and  had  en 
gaged  Clark  in  animated  chat  the  moment  he  tumbled 
aboard.  Away  rattled  the  ambulance  on  its  jog  around 
the  big  quadrangle.  Merrily  rippled  the  laughing, 
ceaseless  chatter  at  the  open  end.  Mrs.  Freeman  was 
covering  Clark  with  blushes  and  confusion,  engrossing 
his  entire  attention  by  the  liveliest  possible  fire  of  ac 
cusation  about  his  cruelty  to  that  pretty  little  Miss 

40 


470  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Thureton,  '-,he  rector's  niece,  whom  he  had  plainly  fas 
cinated  on  her  arrival,  the  week  before,  and  as  totally 
neglected  this  night  of  nights.  There  was  nothing  to 
prevent  Blake's  having  a  word  of  his  own  with  the 
sweet  girl  at  his  side ;  but,  though  his  heart  was  beat 
ing  hard,  his  lips  were  stilled.  Womanlike,  it  was  Nan 
who  first  overcame  the  dangerous  silence. 

"  I  thought  we  would  be  there  for  another  figure/' 
she  faltered,  presently.  "But  you  were  so  covered 
with  decorations,  I  suppose  there  was  hardly  room  for 
more."  He  was  silent  still.  He  bit  his  lip  to  stifle 
the  words  he  longed  to  say,  that  though  from  every 
other  hand  he  had  received  sweet  and  gracious  tribute, 
it  was  all  as  nothing  worth,  because  one  touch  had  been 
withheld.  What  right,  what  right  had  he  to  speak  of 
love  to  her? 

Her  head  had  drooped ;  her  eyes  were  downcast  as 
she  spoke  and  still  were  lowered,  but  his  silence  pained 
her.  Timidly  she  glanced  up  in  his  face.  She  could 
not  bear  the  thought  that  he  was  angered, — that  she 
had  given  him  pain.  No  one  on  earth  had  ever 
dreamed  how  Nannie  Bryan's  girlish  heart  had  long 
since  learned  to  twine  its  tendrils  about  the  tall  and 
sad-faced  soldier, — almost  the  first  officer  she  ever 
knew,  the  very  first — as  she  used  to  say — who  had  ever 
spoken  to  her  "  like  a  lady."  Even  Mrs.  Freeman, 
loving  her  well  and  knowing  her  as  she  did,  only  par 
tially  read  her  secret.  The  tears,  unbidden,  were  start 
ing  to  her  eyes.  How  could  she  make  him  understand 
that  it  was  not  because  she  had  not  longed  to  add  her 
tribute  to  the  rest  that  she  had  held  aloof?  How  could 
he  know  how  rainy,  many  times  she  had  striven  to 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  471 

muster  up  courage  to  trip  quickly  to  his  chair  and  pin 
her  little  knot  of  ribbon  on  his  breast ;  yet  time  after 
time  her  resolution  failed  her.  She  could  not  do  it, 
and  now  he  felt  it ;  was  hurt  and  disappointed  in  her, 
and  she  so  soon  to  leave ;  so  soon  to  go  back  to  the 
East  and  see  her  tall  soldier  friend  no  more. 

"  You  are  not  angry  with  me,  are  you,  Mr.  Blake  ?" 
she  pleaded,  softly.  "  Indeed,  I  did  want  so  much  to 
come  and  give  you  a  favor,  but  I  could  not  there,  and 
yet  I  really  meant  to  the  very  next  figure."  Heaven  I 
Could  mortal  man  withstand  so  sweet  a  penitent, — so 
fond  and  fair  a  pleader  ? 

"What's  the  matter  there,  Rorke?"  shouts  the 
quartermaster  at  this  juncture,  as  the  ambulance  lurches 
suddenly  to  one  side.  "  Drive  steady,  man." 

"  It's  them  murthering  mules,  sorr ;  they'd  shy  at 

a ,"  and  the  rest  of  Rorke's  explanation  is  lost 

between  a  resounding  and  ostentatious  crack  of  the 
whip  and  a  coincident  thickness  of  utterance.  A  wild 
jerk  of  the  vehicle  results  that  topples  its  occupants 
rearwards,  and,  as  Nannie  Bryan  is  leaning  towards 
him  anyway,  a  wealth  of  curling  tresses  comes  sweep 
ing  to  Blake's  very  lips,  mingling  with  his  dark  and 
drooping  moustache ;  an  unseen,  but  beautiful  and 
beloved  face  is  flung  upon  his  breast.  Quick  as  a  flash 
his  arm  is  thrown  about  the  slender  form  and  holds  it 
close.  For  a  moment  the  ambulance  reels  and  sways 
as  the  outraged  animals  dash  along  the  roadway. 
Clark  springs  through  the  narrow  space  between  the 
parallel  seats,  tears  aside  the  front  screen,  and  grasps 
the  reins,  roughly  shoving  the  bewildered  driver  to  one 
side.  Mrs.  Freeman,  uttering  no  sound,  clings  pluck- 


472  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

ily  to  the  rail  with  both  hands.  Nannie  Bryan,  whose 
heart  is  bounding  with  the  sweetest  terror  it  ever 
knew,  has  nothing  to  cling  to  but  Blake.  And  as  for 
Blake,  surely  he  might  have  found  something  else  to 
cling  to ;  but  then  it  was  so  very  dark.  One  moment 
more  of  mad  mingling  of  fright  and  ecstasy,  and  then 
Clark's  strong  hand  and  commanding  voice  have  con 
trolled  the  frantic  mules.  The  ambulance  reins  up 
at  Freeman's  gate.  Mrs.  Freeman,  unassisted,  springs 
lightly  to  the  ground,  and  somehow — somehow  in  the 
darkness  and  confusion  Nannie  Bryan's  glowing  face  is 
for  one  moment  uplifted  and  her  sweet,  warm  lips  are 
fettered  by  one  long,  fervent  kiss,  the  first  she  ever 
knew. 

"  Blast  you,  Rorke  !"  storms  the  quartermaster,  as 
the  ladies  scurry  within  the  gate.  "  I've  never  been  so 
close  to  Hades  in  my  life." 

"  Bless  you,  Rorke  !"  murmurs  Blake.  "  I've  never 
been  so  close  to  heaven." 

What  wondrous  times  we  had  at  the  old  fort  over 
that  engagement !  What  wondrous  joy  shone  in 
Blake's  sparkling  eyes  and  rang  in  the  music  of  his 
voice  !  What  wealth  of  congratulation  poured  in  upon 
him  from  every  side,  and  how  indignant  was  Nannie 
Bryan  afterwards  because  some  people  said  all  the 
congratulation  should  go  to  him.  Old  Buxton,  who 
had  been  promoted  to  another  regiment,  had  of  course 
something  mean  to  say  when  he  wrote.  Indeed,  there 
were  younger  men  who  thought  that  Blake,  like  Ray, 
had  far  more  luck  than  he  deserved.  But  Blake  dis 
armed  all  such  commentators  by  prompt  asseveration 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  473 

that  no  fellow  began  to  know  that  better  than  he. 
Mrs.  Wilkins,  who  had  declined  an  invitation  to  a  re 
ception  to  be  given  to  Judge  and  Mrs.  Leavitt  in 
town,  reconsidered  when  the  engagement  was  finally 
announced,  in  order  that  she  might  have  the  infinite 
comfort  of  being  the  first  to  proclaim  it  to  that  lady, 
and  a  very  telling  feat  she  made  of  it.  For  weeks 
after  Nannie  was  spirited  away  by  her  returning  rela 
tives,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Freeman  were  the  only  ones 
who  knew  the  truth,  howsoever  much  it  may  have  been 
suspected.  But  the  Crawfords  were  anything  but 
reconciled  to  the  idea  at  first.  Uncle  Fred,  in  fact, 
was  fairly  stunned  when  he  received  Blake's  manly 
letter.  He  looked  upon  Nannie  only  as  a  child.  He 
was  even  disposed  to  consider  Blake,  whom  he  had 
only  casually  met,  a  fortune-hunter,  who  had  taken 
advantage  of  her  tender  years  ;  and  there  was  a  serious 
breach  between  these  two,  caused  by  the  fact  of  Craw 
ford's  writing  that  her  fortune  was  nowhere  near  what 
people  supposed,  and  that  most  of  it  was  in  unproduc 
tive  ranch  property  and  real  estate.  Leg's  answer  to 
this  letter  made  the  avuncular  eyes  pop  in  their  sockets. 
The  captain  got  a  month's  leave,  stopped  at  Sidney 
long  enough  to  see  Billy  Ray  and  Marion  and  open 
his  heart  to  them;  then  on  he  went  to  Pennsylvania, 
bringing  bliss  and  surprise  unspeakable  to  Nan,  whom 
he  strove  to  keep  in  ignorance  of  her  guardian's  letter, 
but  whose  clear  eyes  saw  at  once  that  something  was 
wrong. 

.  ..."  I  cannot  get  thine  uncle's  love, 
Therefore  no  more  turn  me  to  him,  sweet  Nan," 
40* 


474  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

he  parodied,  striving  hard  to  laugh  off  her  anxious 
query;  but  presently  she  came  at  him  with  point-blank 
questions  that  he  could  not  dodge,  and  learned  at  last 
the  nature  of  Mr.  Crawford's  missive.  And  then  how 
the  mountain  breezes  blew  and  the  wild  West  came 
storming  in  upon  that  sacred  study,  wherein  sat  the 
master  of  the  house  at  his  books,  all  unconscious  of  the 
wrath  to  come.  "  It  was  like  one  of  your  Cheyenne 
zephyrs."  said  he  afterwards ;  "  I  never  thought  to  hear 
the  like  from  our  precious  Nan."  He  had  planned  to 
take  her  abroad  for  another  year,  that  she  might  recover 
from  this  sudden  and  romantic  fancy,  as  he  supposed 
it.  But  when  in  a  storm  of  indignation  and  reproaches 
and  tears  she  poured  forth  her  heart  and  told  him  she 
had  just  loved  Gerald  Blake  ever  since  she  was  a  chit 
of  fifteen,  ever  since  that  awful  night  when  he  went 
hunting  the  prairie  for  poor  father,  and  was  nearly 
killed,  all  for  her  sake,  and  now  to  think  that  her  kith 
and  kin  should  so  insult  him!  Go  abroad?  No! 
Wait  a  year  and  think  it  over?  No  !  And  the  pretty 
foot  came  down  with  a  stamp  that  shook  the  lamp 
shades  and  shattered  his  every  purpose.  She  would  have 
waited,  had  he  been  just  and  kind  to  Gerald.  She 
would  have  been  docile  and  obedient  as  they  could 
wish,  had  Uncle  Fred  behaved  even  civilly  to  him  ;  but 
now — now  that  he  had  seen  fit  to  write  so  scandalous, 
shameful,  outrageous  a  letter  to  the  man  she  loved,  she 
would  marry  him  the  instant  he  claimed  her,  and  if 
they  strove  to  come  between  them  again  she'd  go  to 
dear  Mrs.  Freeman  until  Gerald  could  be  ready  for 
her.  There  at  least  was  a  home  ;  there  was  love ;  there 
was  sympathy  !  "  Heavens  and  earth  !"  said  Crawford, 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  475 

as  he  told  the  tale  to  Atherton  in  the  spring ;  "  I  used 
to  wonder  what  Muldoon  meant  when  he  said  Miss 
Nan  could  blow  a  man  sky-high  if  she  thought  he  was 
leading  her  father  astray,  but  never  until  that  day  did 
I  begin  to  know  what  a  tongue  and  temper  she  had 
when  aroused."  Poor  Crawford  !  Nan's  was  not  the 
only  flagellation  he  received  that  day.  When  she 
rushed  to  her  room  in  a  passion  of  tears,  Aunt  Effie 
had  of  course  followed,  wondering,  and  sympathized 
and  investigated  and  heard  the  story  of  her  husband's 
letter  to  Blake,  and  then  she,  too,  "  came  down  like  the 
wolf  on  the  fold/'  and  the  sum  and  substance  of  her 
remarks  were  that  she  didn't  dream  that  he  could  have 
been  such  an  idiot.  Why  had  he  not  consulted  her 
before  writing  to  Captain  Blake?  She  knew  all  along 
that  Nan  would  never  listen  to  any  other  lover  on 
earth.  How  many  a  man  is  there  on  whose  eloquence 
hundreds  of  his  kind  hang  fascinated,  whose  "dictum'7 
dozens  back  with  every  dollar  they  can  raise,  whose  sword 
has  carved  the  way  to  fame  and  fortune,  and  whose 
self-confidence  might  well  be  almost  boundless,  but  for 
the  candid  counterbalance  of  his  wife's  opinion.  Craw 
ford  meekly  begged  them  mercy — these  irate  women 
who  would  not  come  down  to  tea,  and  ruefully  and 
obediently  went  off  and  called  for  Captain  Blake  at 
the  hotel. 

And  so  with  the  Christmas  holidays  came  the  formal 
announcement  of  Blake's  engagement,  which  every  one 
suspected,  but  which  none  could  prove.  And  all  the 
winter  long  the  sunshine  poured  in  cloudless  flood  upon 
his  pathway  and  shone  reflected  in  his  glowing  face; 
and  with  the  springtide  Mrs.  Freeman  fairly  seemed 


476  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

to  bubble  over  with  business  and  bliss.  All  the  new 
furniture  was  coming,  all  the  carpets,  curtains,  rugs, 
and  portieres ;  and  she  and  Mrs.  Atherton  were  spend 
ing  hours  every  day  ordering  the  long-legged  captain 
this  way  and  that,  banishing  all  relics  of  bachelor  occu 
pation  from  his  den  and  beautifying,  as  only  wome.M 
can,  the  home  of  the  coming  bride ;  for  now,  as  Mr. 
Crawford  expressed  it,  Nan  had  broken  out  in  a  new 
place  and  taken  the  bit  in  her  teeth  again.  The  day 
for  the  wedding  had  been  duly  set.  It  had  all  been 
arranged  th'at  Blake  was  to  apply  for  three  months' 
leave  of  absence,  and  on  the  first  of  June  he  and  "  Help 
ful  Tommy v  were  to  go  East;  and  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Freeman,  with  the  children,  were  to  start  from  Russell ; 
and  Captain  and  Mrs.  Ray,  with  little  Sanford,  were 
to  join  them  at  Sidney ;  and  Blake  and  Nannie  were  to 
be  married  at  the  Crawfords'  cosey  home.  But,  in  army 
life,  no  man  knows  what  a  day  may  bring  forth. 
"  Hold  your  regiment  in  readiness  for  a  summer  in  the 
field"  was  the  confidential  notification  that  came  to 
Atherton  late  in  April,  and  it  was  speedily  known  that, 
though  hostilities  were  not  feared,  the  — th  was  to  pa 
trol  and  guard  the  beautiful  park  region  where  the  red 
man  rode  in  triumph  but  the  year  before,  and  so  pro 
tect  the  emigrant  and  settler  now  moving  in.  Ray  and 
Freeman  could  not  hope  to  get  a  leave.  Blake  and 
Hoi  Us  could  not  ask  for  more  than  a  fortnight,  and 
even  as  "  Legs"  was  lamenting  the  changed  prospects 
there  came  to  Mrs.  Freeman  a  letter  from  Nan  that 
caused  that  fair  matron  infinite  delight.  Its  counter 
part  that  came  to  Blake  made  his  dark  eyes  glisten. 
"  I  know  you  will  not  coine  without  the  captain," 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  477 

she  wrote,  "  and  rny  mind  is  made  up.  After  all,  this 
is  not  my  home.  Am  I  not  still  your  Prairie  Nan, 
dear  Mrs.  Freeman  ?  Is  not  my  real  home  out  there 
at  the  old  ranch,  in  full  view  of  the  grand,  snow-clad 
peaks,  and  almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  flag  at  dear 
old  Eussell  ?  What  sort  of  wedding  would  it  be  to 
Gerald  if  Captain  Ray  and  Mr.  Hollis  were  denied 
him  ?  What  to  me  if  you  and  dear  Captain  Freeman 
and  my  precious  Dot  and  Harry  could  not  be  among 
the  first  to  wish  me  joy  ?  And  then  there  is  another 
reason,  I'll  tell  you  some  day ;  but  uncle  has  yielded — 
he  simply  had  to — and  I'm  coming  to  be  married  there, 
as  you,  dearest,  sweetest,  truest  friend,  once  said  I  should 
be,  and  in  three  weeks  we  leave  for  Cheyenne." 

What  was  the  other  reason  ? 

Four  times  that  winter  had  Blake  declined  invita 
tions  to  parties  which  Mrs.  Leavitt  was  expected  to  at 
tend  in  town.  Thrice  had  letters  come  to  him  which 
he  returned  unopened  to  the  writer.  One  brilliant 
Sunday  morning,  as  he  stepped  from  the  church  door  at 
Mrs.  Freeman's  side,  a  laughing  voice  accosted  him, 
and  Mrs.  Leavitt  was  at  his  elbow. 

u  Pray  forgive  me,  Mrs.  Leavitt/'  she  said,  all  win 
ning  smiles,  "  but,  like  other  men,  our  captain  forgets 
old  friends  in  new-found  bliss.  Gerald,  in  answering 
my  last  note  you  did  not  think  to  tell  me  one  thing, — 
what  shall  I  do  with  that  little  packet  I  have  of  yours  ? 
Do  you  prefer  to  send  for  it,  or  shall  I  express  it  to 
your  fiancee  f ' 

Blake  stopped  short,  astounded  for  an  instant,  though 
her  words  left  her  meaning  in  no  doubt.  Mrs.  Free 
man,  startled,  speechless,  looked  first  at  the  fair,  inso- 


478  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

lently  smiling  woman  who  now  turned  and  confronted 
her  escort,  and  then  at  his  stern,  wrathful  face.  His 
eyes  seemed  to  blaze.  His  lips  quivered  under  the 
long,  drooping  moustache,  but  in  a  moment  he  recovered 
himself,  and  with  infinite  politeness,  with  almost  airy 
grace,  he  raised  his  hat. 

"  Will  you  really  be  guided  by  my  wishes  in  the 
matter,  Mrs.  Leavitt  ?" 

"  Assuredly,  Gerald,"  she  answered,  with  radiant, 
winsome  mien.  "  Why  else  should  I  ask  ?" 

"Then  will  you  oblige  me  by  sending  it  direct  to 
Miss  Bryan  ?  You  have  her  address,  as  I  happen  to 
know."  Again  he  raised  his  hat,  and  without  another 
glance  handed  Mrs.  Freeman  to  the  carriage  and  took 
his  seat  by  her  side.  And  so  it  happened  that  Mrs. 
Freeman  half  divined  that  other  reason  before  Nannie 
Bryan  ever  told  her.  The  packet,  duly  forwarded  by 
express,  contained  some  trinkets  and  two  old  letters 
which  Gerald  Blake  had  written  to  the  sender,  with 
Mrs.  Leavitt's  congratulations,  and  within  another 
week,  unopened,  they  were  in  the  captain's  hands.  He 
had  long  since  told  Nan  the  whole  direful  story,  and 
Mrs.  Leavitt's  bolt  fell  harmless  to  the  ground.  Even 
when  she  knew  that  there  were  two  men  who  held  a 
secret  that  could  crush  her,  she  dared  to  aim  this  blow, 
for  well  she  reasoned  that,  come  what  might,  neither 
Blake  nor  Hollis  would  ever  stoop  to  tell  the  story  of 
that  other  wife  whose  silence  cost  her  wretched  lord  so 
much  more  than  the  prize  wras  worth. 

"  But  I  wish  to  be  married  right  here  before  her 
very  face,"  said  Nannie,  with  flashing  eyes,  as  she  told 
the  story  to  Mrs.  Freeman  afterwards. 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  479 

"  And   it  shall   be  just  the  loveliest  wedding  ever 
seen  at  an  army  post/7  was  Mrs.  Freeman's  answer. 

Well,  if  it  wasn't,  no  blame  can  attach  to  the  host  of 
loving  friends  who  crowded  to  do  her  honor.  Early  in 
the  winter  the  new  "administration  building"  had  been 
finished,  with  one  long  apartment  designed  for  chapel, 
school-,  or  hop-room,  and  here  for  several  days  the 
quartermaster  had  his  carpenters  at  work,  putting  up, 
framing,  and  rearranging  the  aisles  and  seats.  Mean 
time,  far  out  among  the  foot-hills,  brawny  troopers  had 
been  hewing  down  the  only  trees  that  could  preserve 
their  green,  and  the  post-wagons  came  in  laden  with 
pine  and  cedar  branches.  And  then  all  Monday  and 
Tuesday  of  the  last  week  in  May  dozens  of  fair  hands 
and  stalwart  arms  had  been  busily  at  work, — "  Help 
ful  Tommy"  in  the  van.  And  huge  boxes  of  smilax 
had  been  shipped  from  Denver,  and  all  the  bright-hued 
guidons  had  been  pressed  into  service,  and  scores  of 
glittering  sabres  and  hundreds  of  cavalry  plumes,  and 
the  Crawfords  were  guests  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Ather- 
ton,  and  the  Kays  had  come  to  spend  the  joyous  week 
with  the  Truscotts.  Nannie  had  her  old  room  at  the 
Freemans',  where  she  gave  audience  to  almost  every 
woman  at  the  post.  How  could  they  help  crowding  to 
see  the  lovely  things  that  made  up  that  wonderful 
trousseau  !  Trunks  and  boxes  blocked  up  every  spare 
inch  in  the  hall- way,  but  proved  no  barrier  to  sight 
seers  so  enthusiastic,  and  only  at  odd  intervals,  brief, 
stolen  seconds — not  minutes — could  Blake  catch  even  a 
word  with  his  fair  fiancee. 

"  Was  ever  a  man  so  utterly  in  the  way  ?"  protested 
Mrs.  Freeman.     "  Do  go  home, — go  somewhere, — any- 


480  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

where,  and  leave  us  in  peace.  You  are  going  to  have 
her  all  to  yourself  after  Wednesday ;  for  mercy's  sake, 
be  rational  now.  Can't  you  see  how  much  we  have  to 
do  ?"  Blake  couldn't  by  any  means ;  but  what  man 
ever  could  or  ever  did  understand  those  ante-nuptial 
ceremonies  which  are  so  indispensable  to  the  other  sex, 
and  which  usually  result  in  the  prostration  of  the  bride 
elect?  Day  after  day,  from  morn  till  late  at  night,  she 
was  besieged  by  feminine  visitors ;  army  girls  not  yet 
engaged,  but  wildly  enthusiastic  and  sympathetic ;  girls 
who  would  come  in  at  guard-mount  and  hang  about 
her  until  tattoo  ;  girls  from  town  who,  uninvited,  would 
come  out  "  to  spend  the  day  and  help ;"  young  matrons 
and  old  from  town  and  garrison,  and  one  and  all  had 
to  see  the  contents  of  those  trunks  and  boxes,  and  feel 
the  texture  and  exclaim  over  the  sheen  of  silk  or  hue  of 
ribbon,  and  gasp  over  the  bewildering  patterns  of  the 
laces  and  embroidery ;  and  the  army  homestead  echoed 
with  superlatives,  and  nothing  was  distinguishable 
above  the  general  chorus  of  "sweet,"  " exquisite," 
"too  lovely,"  "perfectly  beautiful,"  "simply  heavenly," 
and  similar  explosives  lavished  on  the  various  items  of 
the  bewildering  array  that  Aunt  Effie's  taste  and  Uncle 
Fred's  prodigality  had  heaped  upon  their  beloved  Nan ; 
and  Freeman  spent  most  of  his  unoccupied  hours, — 
which  were  few  enough, — whimsically  describing  the 
domestic  chaos  to  his  chums  at  the  store ;  and  as  for 
Blake, — Blake  fluttered  about  the  post  "like  a  hen  with 
her  head  cut  off,"  said  Foster,  nervous,  restless,  excited, 
irrepressible,  and  utterly  absurd.  One  thing  had  been 
resolved  upon, — neither  Nan  nor  her  blissful  groom 
was  to  be  allowed  to  set  foot  in  the  chapel  until  the 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  481 

decorations  were  complete ;  neither  one  was  to  be  al 
lowed  to  see  it  until  the  moment  of  the  ceremony. 

"  How  on  earth  do  you  suppose  I  can  see  it,  then  ?" 
asked  Blake.  "  My  head  is  aswim  already."  But  Mrs. 
Atherton  was  in  charge,  and  not  an  inch  of  her  posi 
tion  would  she  abandon.  Wednesday  noon  had  been 
settled  upon  as  the  time,  the  new  chapel  as  the  place, 
and  Mr.  Hughes  as  the  officiating  priest.  The  rector 
had  at  first  demurred.  He  thought  the  wedding  should 
come  off  at  his  own  little  sanctuary  in  town,  but  it  was 
promptly  pointed  out  to  him  that  it  would  not  begin 
to  hold  the  invited  guests,  and  could  not  be  decorated 
as  was  desired.  Mrs.  Morris  assured  her  Cheyenne 
cronies  that  she  had  it  from  the  best  authority  that  the 
real  reason  was  that  if  the  wedding  came  off  at  the 
church  they  could  not  well  exclude  Mrs.  Leavitt  from 
her  pew,  should  she  be  brazen  enough  to  insist  on  com 
ing;  but  Mrs.  Morris  was  stupefied  when  told  that 
Mrs.  Leavitt  had  just  received  the  most  gorgeous  toilet 
to  be  worn  on  that  occasion,  and  that  Judge  and  Mrs. 
Leavitl's  invitation  included  both  the  ceremony  and 
the  reception.  This,  said  Mrs.  Morris,  was  simply  in 
credible.  But  she  was  not  half  as  much  amazed  as  was 
Madeleine  Leavitt  herself  when  that  invitation  came. 
Was  it  possible  that  the  packet  she  had  sent  had  failed 
to  reach  its  destination  ?  She  could  not  call  upon  the 
bride-elect  and  inquire,  because  she  was  visiting  at  the 
Freemans',  and  Mrs.  Freeman  would  never  recognize 
her,  except  by  a  cold  and  distant  bow,  and  had  never 
crossed  her  threshold  since  the  early  days  at  the  depot. 
But  just  about  ten  days  before  the  wedding  Mrs.  Craw 
ford  and  Miss  Bryan  were  reported  making  certain 

Y          //  41 


482  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

visits  in  town,  and  Madeleine  Leavitt  sallied  forth  to 
play  her  last  card.  They  met  in  Major  Thorpe's  par 
lor,  where  the  paymaster's  wife  was  holding  court. 
Mrs.  Crawford  freezingly -acknowledged  Mrs.  Leavitt's 
enchanting  smile  of  greeting,  and  Nannie's  big  brown 
eyes  flashed  a  challenge  that  would  have  daunted 
women  less  determined.  It  would  have  been  easy  to 
avoid  further  meeting,  but  the  blood  of  the  Bryans  was 
up,  and  Nan  deliberately  threw  herself  in  Mrs.  Leav 
itt's  way. 

"  It  is  the  first  opportunity  I  have  had  of  tendering 
.my  congratulations  in  person,  Miss  Bryan,"  said  the 
elder  lady,  with  that  indescribable  smile,  but  with  a 
lazy,  dangerous  drawl  in  her  words.  "  Yet  I  think  you 
received  them  with  the  little  packet  I  sent  you,  did 
you  not?"  And  from  under  the  white  lids  with  their 
long,  sweeping  lashes  she  fixes  her  hungry  eyes  upon 
the  fair,  flushing  face.  She  had  thought  to  down  a  rival 
so  young,  so  inexperienced;  but  she  never  dreamed 
the  fight  in  Nannie  Bryan's  blood  until  this  day, — and 
never  dared  it  afterwards. 

"  Receive  them,  Mrs.  Leavitt?  Oh,  yes,  and  passed 
them  on  with  the  packet  to  Captain  Blake.  You  know 
he  had  told  me  all  about  it  long  before." 

"  Pretty  good  for  a  girl  not  out  of  her  teens !" 
boomed  old  Stannard  when  told  the  story  that  night ; 
for  at  least  three  women  had  breathlessly  heard  and 
eagerly  repeated  the  words.  It  was  conceded  on  all 
sides  that  Mrs.  Leavitt  had  met  with  signal  and  dis 
astrous  defeat  in  the  very  first  round.  There  were 
dozens  of  good  people  both  in  town  and  at  the  fort 
who  held  that  after  that  episode  it  would  be  simply 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  483 

impossible  to  invite  her  to  the  wedding.  But  a  judge 
of  the  Federal  Court  was  not  a  personage  to  be  ignored. 

"  And  what  is  more/7  said  Nannie  to  her  aunt  and  to 
Mrs.  Freeman,  "  if  Mrs.  Atherton  has  no  objection  to 
receiving  her  in  her  parlors,  I  simply  want  her  to  see 
our  wedding."  And  so  the  matter  was  settled. 

And  then  that  wondrous  Wednesday  came,  with  a 
soft  breeze  blowing  gently  from  the  south,  as  though 
the  blustering  gales,  that  time  and  again  had  buffeted 
the  girlish  form,  had  now  withdrawn  their  winged 
furies,  that  naught  but  peace  and  gladness  and  smiling 
sunshine  should  attend  her  wedding  morn.  And 
long  before  noon  the  carriages  began  coming  out  across 
the  prairie,  and  ladies  in  charming  toilets  were  flitting 
from  house  to  house,  and  officers  in  full  uniform  began 
to  appear  upon  the  piazzas,  and  a  throng  of  nurse 
maids,  children,  and  womenfolk  from  "Sudsville"  to 
gather  about  the  chapel  doors,  where  six-foot  troopers 
guarded  the  way  and  suffered  none  to  enter  until  the 
appointed  time.  And  by  and  by  the  ushers,  too,  began 
to  cluster  at  the  door  and  to  peep  in  and  exclaim,  "  By 
Jove !"  after  the  manner  of  men  whose  adjectives  were 
unequal  to  the  task  of  description.  And  Foster, 
though  he  wore  the  willow,  had  put  a  brave  face  upon 
his  secret  disappointment  and  turned  out  as  one  of  the 
selected  six.  And  over  on  their  barrack-porch  Blake's 
troop  were  mustering  in  their  brightest  garb,  and  here 
and  there  among  the  Riflers,  soldierly  fellows  in  the 
neat,  dark  blue,  belted  and  gloved,  were  gathering 
into  squads ;  for  Blake  declared  that  every  man  who 
had  stood  by  him  in  the  stirring  hours  at  the  Manitou 
should  be  with  him  in  the  joyous  ceremony  of  the 


484  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

day.  And  under  the  broad  awning  of  tent-flies 
stretched  from  curb  to  chapel  door  the  carriage-loads 
from  town  were  received  upon  the  arms  of  waiting 
officers  and  marched  between  the  statuesque  sentries 
and  into  the  bower-like  interior,  where  they  were  shown 
to  seats  already  designated,  and  where  they  exchanged 
appreciative  nods  and  commentaries  on  the  beauty 
of  the  decorations.  And — was  it  collusion  ? — Mrs. 
Granger  Leavitt  on  Corry's  arm  was  conducted  to  one 
of  the  seats  well  up  the  aisle,  where  smilingly  she  sig 
nalled  to  her  following  liege  to  enter  first,  that  she 
might  sit  at  the  very  end  nearest  the  bridal  party. 
And  here  she  stood  a  moment  displaying  another 
gorgeous  gown,  and  sweetly,  smilingly  arching  her  eye 
brows  and  distributing  nods  and  greetings  about  the  hall. 
And  then  the  post  people  began  to  reach  the  entrance, 
and  to  be  escorted  to  their  places,  and  there  were  mur 
murs  of  admiration  when  the  Truscotts  and  their 
guests,  the  Rays,  came  in  together,  preceded  by  Master 
Jack  convoying  little  Sandy,  who  was  just  about  able 
to  toddle ;  and  if  Mrs.  Ray  had  grown  a  trifle  stouter, 
the  new  toilet  disguised  the  fact  astonishingly.  And 
Mrs.  Leavitt's  eyes  devoured  each  item  of  that  gown, 
even  when  she  comprehended  both  the  captains  in  a 
ravishing  smile.  And  presently,  one  after  another,  all 
the  families  of  the  garrison  were  ushered  in,  and  the 
clink  of  sword  and  rattle  of  scabbard  could  be  heard 
on  every  side,  and  the  children  were  eagerly  huddling 
together  and  whispering,  and  everybody  was  looking 
about  and  exchanging  greetings,  and  exclaiming  over 
the  beauty  of  the  scene  and  the  marvellous  change 
wrought  in  the  appearance  of  the  long  spare  room ; 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  485 

and  then  the  martial  tramp  of  marching  feet  oculd  be 
heard,  and  in  came  the  column  of  sturdy  soldiery, 
"  doughboys"  and  dragoons  united,  the  same  fellows 
who  fought  so  fiercely  to  hold  the  pass  till  Stannard's 
coming.  And  so,  little  by  little  as  the  minute  hand 
crept  round  towards  twelve,  every  nook  and  corner 
except  the  aisle  and  chancel  had  its  eager  occupants, 
and  who  that  saw  it  could  forget  the  picture  ? 

Overhead  and  on  every  side,  fastened  to  light  invisible 
scaffolding,  the  ceilings  and  the  walls  were  hidden  in  a 
bower  of  pine  and  cedar  and  evergreen,  the  sombre 
coloring  tempered  and  contrasted  by  the  brilliant  hues 
of  dozens  of  cavalry  guidons,  gay  flags  of  silk  and 
bunting,  and  glittering  stars  and  crosses  formed  by  the 
flashing  steel  of  hundreds  of  sabres.  Festoons  of 
evergreen  hung  in  graceful  loops  from  every  window 
to  the  beams  in  the  vaulted  roof.  Forward,  towards 
the  extemporized  chancel  railing,  hidden  in  smilax  and 
studded  with  cavalry  plumes,  a  light  archway  had  been 
thrown,  covered  thickly  with  its  coating  of  twigs  and 
evergreen,  and  the  clinging  tendrils  of  vine.  Knots 
of  bridal  ribbon  in  purest  white  looped  back  the  thick 
festoons  that  hung  about  the  arch  and  displayed  to 
view  a  raised  dais  or  platform,  carpeted  with  richest 
green.  Here  and  there  and  everywhere  around  the 
chancel  peeped  clusters  of  yellow  roses  and  the  yellow 
ripples  of  the  troopers7  plumes.  Back  of  the  chancel, 
against  the  westward  wall,  upon  a  solid  bank  of  green, 
was  the  badge  of  the  regiment  with  its  number  and 
the  letter  of  Blake's  troop,  all  formed  from  glistening 
spurs  that  had  been  polished  like  mirrors  by  whole 
companies  of  enthusiastic  soldiers.  Stacks  of  the 


486  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

Kiflers'  arms,  suspending  polished  belts  and  pouches, 
stood  on  both  sides  of  the  chancel  and.  peeped  from  the 
bower  of  green.  Copper  bugles  and  brazen  trumpets 
hung  glittering  from  the  leafy  archway;  and,  under 
the  great  device  of  the  crossed  sabres,  flanked  by  silken 
guidons,  stood  the  standard  of  the  — th. 

And  now  of  a  sudden  there  comes  a  burst  of  melody. 
The  band  of  the  regiment,  stationed  without  the  can 
vas  portals,  crashes  full  upon  the  ear  in  the  wondrous 
harmonies  of  Wagner.  There  is  immediate  turning  of 
eyes  towards  the  wide  open  doors.  Mrs.  Freeman, 
lovely  in  a  soft,  creamy  toilet,  comes  flushed  and  smil 
ing  up  the  aisle,  leaning  on  Jier  tall  husband's  arm, 
and  slips  into  the  seat  next  the  Athertons'  nearest  the 
chancel  rail.  Mr.  Hughes,  the  rector,  emerges  from 
behind  the  leafy  screen  and  advances  to  the  edge  of  the 
dais.  An  instant  latter  Blake  appears,  stalking  forth 
from  the  opposite  side,  and,  his  dark  eyes  aglow,  his 
/'ace  very  white,  takes  his  stand  so  near  to  Mrs.  Free 
man  that  she  can  almost  hear  the  thumping  of  his 
heart.  Just  behind  him,  as  best  man,  and,  of  course, 
in  full-dress  uniform,  is  Tommy  Hollis,  and  Tom 
smiles  blandly  over  the  assemblage,  as  much  at  home 
as  the  groom  is  at  sea.  Blake  bites  at  his  moustache  on 
one  side,  at  his  upper  lip  on  the  other,  shifts  from  the 
right  foot  to  the  left,  loses  control  of  his  hands,  and 
looks  for  the  moment  the  picture  of  desolation.  Louder 
and  more  joyous  rings  the  music  from  without,  and 
now  it  floats  into  the  rhythmic  strains  of  the  wedding 
march  from  Lohengrin,  during  the  murmur  of  excited 
joy  with  which  the  assemblage  greets  the  coming  bride. 
First  there  is  a  bonny  little  pair,  a  brave-faced  boy 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  487 

and  girl,  both  with  deep  blue  eyes  and  fair  waving 
hair,  hers  falling  in  shimmering  wavelets  down  her 
back.  Straight  and  well  and  bravely  they  march, 
stepping  like  little  soldiers  in  perfect  time  to  the  stir 
ring  strains,  and  Freeman's  eyes,  that  never  blinked 
through  all  the  sulphur  clouds  of  Chickamauga's 
fiercest  hour,  glisten  "  with  that  wet  badge  of  weak 
humanity"  that  seems  ready  to  overflow  in  the  softer 
orbs  of  the  fair  wife  and  mother  who  stands  at  his 
side.  Dot  and  Harry  are  indeed  there  to  lead  their 
beloved  Prairie  Nan  to  her  waiting  groom,  and  they 
glance  quickly  up  into  the  father's  face  as  they  reach 
their  stations,  confident  of  the  "  well  done "  that 
trembles  on  his  lips.  He  turns  abruptly  and  scowls  at 
the  stack  of  rifles  in  front,  ashamed  of  his  momentary 
weakness,  forgetful  that  "  there  are  no  faces  truer  than 
those  that  are  so  washed."  Mr.  Corry  comes  next, 
escorting  Amy  Waldron,  the  major's  eldest  daughter, 
who  has  rapturously  embraced  the  opportunity  of  ap 
pearing  for  the  first  time  in  a  long  dress  as  Nannie's  maid 
of  honor.  And  Mr.  Foster  has  given  Mrs.  Crawford 
his  arm,  and  the  other  ushers  hang  back  well  down  the 
aisle,  because  there  is  not  room  for  more  in  a  tableau 
that  would  be  effective.  And  then,  leaning  on  her 
uncle's  arm,  her  lovely  veiled  head  gently  bent,  but  the 
soft,  brown  eyes  looking  straight  before  her,  comes  our 
prairie  flower,  and  all  else  is  forgotten  as  people  gaze 
upon  her.  Blake  steps  forward  with  extended  hand, 
looking  solemn  as  an  owl  when  all  the  time  his  heart 
is  bounding,  and  as  she  quits  her  guardian's  arm  and 
puts  her  slender,  white-gloved  hand  in  his,  her  soft 
eyes  beam  upon  him,  the  flush  deepens  on  her  rounded 


488  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

cheek  and  a  tremulous  little  smile  plays  an  instant 
about  her  lips.  To  his  unspeakable  relief,  Blake  at 
last  can  turn  his  back  upon  the  congregation  and  face 
only  the  white-robed  priest.  He  hears  as  in  a  daze 
the  opening  words  of  the  beautiful  service.  He  can 
not  help  thinking  just  how  Billy  Ray  looked — how 
long  ago  it  seems  now — when  he  in  his  turn  faced  the 
music  and  seemed  to  challenge  any  man  living  now  to 
speak  or  else  forever  hold  his  peace.  He  is  astonished 
to  find  the  needed  words  "I  will"  imbedded  so  far 
down  in  his  throat  that  only  by  supreme  effort  does  he 
resurrect  them  ere  it  is  too  late.  He  marvels  at  Nan's 
composure,  though  he  notes  the  tremor  in  the  sweet, 
bell-like  tone  of  her  voice.  He  has  a  half-defined  idea 
that  perhaps  at  the  very  last  moment  Crawford  will 
revoke,  and  is  immeasurably  relieved  when  that  gen 
tleman  steps  promptly  forward  to  give  the  bride 
away.  The  basso  cantante  that  made  the  Manitou 
resound  with  his  rallying-cry  is  only  a  husky  shadow 
of  itself  to-day,  as  he  blindly  follows  Mr.  Hughes  in 
the  solemn  giving  of  his  troth.  Not  until  he  comes 
to  "love  and  to  cherish  until  death  us  do  part"  does 
its  ring  and  resonance  return.  He  half  turns  and 
looks  into  her  softly  flushing  face,  as  again  her  silvery 
tones  seem  to  quiver  over  the  hushed  and  reverent 
throng.  He  wishes  for  the  thousandth  time  he  had  the 
man  by  the  throat  who  introduced  that  paragraph  in 
the  matrimonial  tactics  that  prescribes  that  he  should 
audibly  endow  with  all  his  worldly  goods  the  fair  girl 
who  stands  there  by  his  side.  He  could  swear  that 
some  of  those  graceless  boys  are  winking  at  each  other 
at  this  very  instant,  and  he  longs  to  punch  Ross's  thick 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  489 

head.  He  vows  he'll  do  it,  too.  Even  in  this  solemn 
moment  he  cannot  shut  out  the  recollection  of  the  chaf 
fing  the  youngsters  have  indulged  in  on  that  score,  but 
the  reverent  tones  of  Mr.  Hughes  recall  him  to 
worthier  thoughts  as  the  words  of  that  beautiful 
prayer  fall  upon  his  ear.  He  hears  with  something 
akin  to  awe  the  solemn  announcement,  "  They  are  man 
and  wife."  He  totally  forgets  to  unhook  his  sabre 
when  they  kneel  to  receive  that  most  beautiful  of  all 
blessings  in  the  ritual.  The  clattering  thing  gets  in 
his  way  just  as  Ray  had  bet  him  that  it  would  unless 
Tommy  Hollis  thought  to  whisper  the  command  "  Pre 
pare  to  mount."  And  then  there  comes  a  solemn 
pause,  and  then  a  rustling  and  rising,  a  glorious  flood 
of  melody  from  without  as  the  band  bursts  into  that 
loveliest  march  of  Mendelssohn's.  He  finds  his  feet 
somehow,  but  has  utterly  lost  his  head.  Hughes  is 
holding  forth  a  cordial  hand.  Nannie  is  smiling  up 
into  his  glowing  eyes.  He  faces  about  in  obedience  to 
her  signal  and  confronts  again  the  gazing  throng.  No 
need  to  bother  himself  on  their  account,  for  all  eyes 
are  fixed  on  her,  not  him — all,  save  one  pair,  brilliant 
and  beautiful  and  heavily-lashed,  and  almost  the  first 
thing  that  arrests  his  half-bewildered  gaze  is  this  intent, 
almost  scornful,  look  in  Madeleine  Leavittfs  insolently 
smiling  face.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  oppor 
tune  !  In  one  instant  every  nerve  is  braced,  every 
faculty  alert.  Pride,  love,  joy,  happiness  ineffable, 
beam  in  his  speaking  face  as  he  bends  one  look  beneath 
the  flimsy  veil  now  backward  thrown,  and  then  with 
elastic  step  he  leads  his  sweet  wife,  blushing  and  beau 
tiful,  down  that  guarded  aisle,  a  lane  of  fair,  fond  faces, 


490  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

of  smiling,  shining  eyes,  of  stalwart,  soldierly  men,  of 
loyal,  steadfast  friends,  rich  with  welcome  for  his  bonny 
bride,  and  so  out  into  the  music  and  the  sunshine  of 
the  early  summertide  beyond. 

And  now  the  clans  are  gathered  at  the  colonel's,  and 
all  the  bidden  guests  are  marshalled  there  to  tender 
their  congratulations,  and  Blake's  wits  begin  slowly  to 
reassemble  in  his  whirling  brain,  and  he  has  time  to 
note  how  infinitely  lovely  Nannie  looks  in  her  bridal 
garb,  and  then  to  lead  her  to  their  station  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  double  parlor,  and  to  grip  Tommy  Hollis's 
hand  with  both  hands,  and  to  whisper  a  word  in  Mrs. 
Freeman's  little  pink  ear  that  makes  her  soft  eyes 
dance.  And  then,  as  Hollis  aligns  the  party  in  semi 
circle,  and  first  of  all  the  colonel  and  his  radiant  wife 
step  forward  to  tender  their  felicitations,  and  the  rapidly- 
arriving  guests  are  ranged  by  the  ushers  in  column  of 
twos,  there  is  a  general  ripple  of  delight  as  the  regi 
mental  commander  bends  gravely  forward  and  presses 
his  lips  on  Nannie's  soft  and  rounded  cheek. 

"  Welcome  to  the  — th,  Mrs.  Blake,"  he  smilingly 
.says ;  and  so  for  the  first  time  is  she  hailed  by  her  new 
name. 

"  Welcome  to  the  — th,  Nan,  dear,"  echoes  Freeman, 
who  happens  to  be  the  next  man,  as  he,  too,  bends  and 
kisses  her. 

"  Welcome  to  all  our  hearts,  Nan,  darling,"  mur 
murs  Mrs.  Freeman,  as  for  an  instant  the  two  clasp 
and  cling  to  each  other  and  part  with  swimming  eyes. 

"  Welcome,  thrice  welcome  to  the  — th,  Mrs.  Blake," 
exclaims  Hollis,  darting  from  his  place  by  Amy  Wal- 
dron's  side.  "  Of  course  in  the  same  way,  I  mean," 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  491 

he  laughs,  as  he,  too,  would  have  bent  and  kissed  the 
flushing  cheek  ;  but  Mrs.  Freeman  interposes  : 

"  Indeed  you  shan't,  sir.  Every  man  in  the  regi- 
meni  will  be  wanting  to  next." 

"  Will  be  wanting  to  !  Heavens  !  they  want  to  now," 
is  Tommy's  quick  rejoinder.  "  Why  did  Freeman 
begin  if  there  wasn't  enough  to  go  round?"  But 
Tommy  has  to  give  way  to  the  Stannards  and  Wal- 
drons,  who  will  brook  no  longer  delay,  and  then  come 
Jack  Truscott  and  his  lovely  wife. 

"  Surely  I  can  bid  you  welcome  to  the  old  regiment, 
Nan,"  says  Mrs.  Grace,  "  since  I  was  almost  born  and 
reared  under  the  standard."  And  Mrs.  Ray  has  charm 
ing  congratulations  for  her  Will's  devoted  friend  and 
his  sweet  bride ;  and  how  those  fellows  wring  Blake's 
firm  hands,  and  how  they  look  into  each  other's  eyes, 
as  man  after  man  they  come  to  wish  him  joy.  And 
what  laughter  and  mirth  there  is  when  Mrs.  Wilkins 
calls  him  "  Jurrld,"  and  reminds  him  that  she's  always 
been  like  a  mother  to  him.  And  Mrs.  Wilkins  is  by 
no  means  the  only  one  whose  voice  is  lowered  and 
whose  eyes  are  eager  and  alert  when  Mrs.  Leavitt 
comes  beaming  through  the  crowd,  leaning  on  Foster's 
arm.  Infinite  is  the  grace  with  which  she  bends  for 
ward  to  clasp  the  hand  of  the  bride ;  bewitching  is  her 
smile. 

"  Need  I  say  how  heartily  I  wish  you  joy  ?"  she 
exclaims,  and  then,  with  sudden  turn,  "  and  you,  too, 
Captain  Gerald  ;  you  luckiest  of  men  !"  Nan  receives 
her  greeting  with  an  ease  that  charms  all  lookers-on. 
She  is  talking  laughingly  with  Mrs.  Hayne  as  the 
judge's  stately  dame  draws  nigh;  she  is  laughing  still 


492  CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

when  she  bends  to  acknowledge  Mrs.  Leavitt's  honeyed 
words.  She  laughs  blithely,  looking  straight  in  those 
half- veiled  eyes,  answering, — 

"Need  I  tell  you  how  fully  I  appreciate  your  kind 
wishes?  —  Gerald,  dear,  Mrs.  Leavitt."  And  then, 
laughing  still,  she  turns  back  to  Mrs.  Hayne,  who, 
being  a  young  woman  of  equal  nerve  and  spirit,  could 
have  hugged  her  then  and  there. 

But  Blake's  fingers  will  not  even  close  upon  the  hand 
she  extends  to  his.  Hollis,  watching  her  coming,  has 
slipped  away,  ostensibly  to  fetch  a  glass  of  water  for 
Miss  Amy,  who  needs  nothing  of  the  kind.  Blake 
bows  low  before  the  woman  who  had  once  enthralled 
him,  merely  taking  her  hand  and  murmuring  her 
name,  turns  instantly  to  her  husband  who  follows 
grimly  in  her  wake,  and  gives  to  him  a  really  friendly 
greeting. 

"  Judge,  Fm  glad  to  see  you  with  us.  Foster,  please 
present  Mrs.  Leavitt  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crawford,"  and 
turns  quickly  away  to  welcome  the  next  comer,  while 
Madeleine  passes  on,  looking  winsomely  into  Foster's 
face  and  smiling, — indomitably  smiling;  while  the  band, 
stationed  now  on  the  grass-plat  just  outside  the  parlor 
windows,  begins  witchingly  the  Lorelei  prelude  to  "  Am 
Schonen  Rhein."  Smilingly,  graciously,  she  makes  the 
round  of  the  wedding-party,  exchanging  bright  sallies 
and  distributing  flattering  words  to  every  listening  ear. 
And  then  she  releases  Foster  and  resumes  her  hus 
band's  arm,  and  so,  gradually,  she  makes  her  tri 
umphant  way  to  the  lower  end  of  the  crowded  rooms, 
and  out  into  the  hall  beyond.  Still  laughing,  chatting, 
all  grace  and  gladness,  she  guides  him  to  the  open 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  493 

door,  and  so  on  to  where  her  carriage  waits.  She  will 
not  stay  to  take  part  in  the  wedding- feast.  Not  until 
the  eastern  gate  is  passed  and  the  open  prairie  is  before 
them, — the  joyous  garrison  left  behind, — does  that 
indomitable  smile  follow  such  joy  as  ever  lived  in  her 
selfish  heart,  and,  vanishing,  gives  place  to  black- 
browed  envy  and  dejection. 

And  now  the  laughing  throng  is  gathered  about  the 
colonel's  board  or  scattered  all  around  the  halls  and 
doorway,  and  every  voice  is  stilled  but  one,  and  all 
ears  are  intent  as,  glass  in  hand,  Atherton  says  his 
brief,  soldierly  but  telling  words,  bidding  the  newly- 
wedded  pair  God-speed.  And  on  every  side  they  are 
drinking  Nannie's  health  and  happiness,  and  every 
man  is  calling  for  Blake.  Slowly  he  rises  by  her  side, 
a  film  in  his  honest  eyes,  a  tremor  in  his  earnest  voice. 
For  an  instant  he  seems  to  falter,  as  though  he  knew 
not  how  to  begin,  but  one  look  down  into  her  face,  so 
full  of  joy  and  hope  and  pride  and  confidence,  sends 
the  blood  a-tingle  through  his  veins  and  nerves  him  to 
his  task.  Time  and  again  he  has  ranted  for  them, 
jibed  and  jested  and  won  their  laughter  and  applause ; 
but  he  cannot  jest  to-day.  His  heart  is  full  to  over 
flowing. 

"  You  don't  know  how  many  things  I  long  to  say  to 
you  ;  if  you  did  you  never  would  have  called  on  me  to 
speak  ;  but  much  as  you  have  suffered  from  my  traves 
ties  in  the  past,  you  need  this  time  have  no  fear.  You 
have  borne  with  me  so  many  a  long  year,  one  and  all, 
in  fair  weather  and  foul,  through  good  report  and  ill. 
You  have  been  the  most  indulgent  friends,  and  some 
of  you" — and  here  his  eyes  soften  as  they  fall  for  an 

42 


494  -CAPTAIN  BLAKE. 

instant  on  Mrs.  Freeman's  face — "  the  best  ami  truest 
friends  man  could  ever  hope  to  have,  and,  long  as  I 
may  live,  I  shall  love  to  recall  these  last  two  years  at 
Russell.  I  have  never  known  such  pride  in  the  dear 
old  — th,  such  fellowship  and  affection  for  any  other 
regiment  as  I  feel,  and  ought  to  feel,  for  our  comrades 
of  the  Riflers.  But,  as  for  those  who  are  our  help 
meets  here,  the  fondest  words  man  ever  wrote  or 
dreamed  would  fail  me  in  the  tribute  that  my  heart 
would  pay.  Time  and  again  in  the  old  days  we  gath 
ered  about  the  camp-fires  and  drank  to  sweethearts  and 
wives.  Time  was  when  woman  in  becoming  wife 
seemed  to  forfeit  forevermore  the  tender  name  of 
sweetheart,  but  where  to-day  are  women  sweethearts 
longer? — where  are  there  faces  that  grow  lovelier  with 
every  coming  year? — where  are  there  wives  who  win 
with  every  changing  season  new  love,  new  reverence, 
new  devotion  from  their  lords  as  do  those  in  our  very 
midst,  where  they  are  ever  sweethearts  and  wives  in 
one.  With  wistful  eyes  I've  watched  the  happiness  of 
many  a  comrade,  never  dreaming  that  the  day  was 
soon  to  come  when  in  all  our  broad  land  there  would 
live  no  man  whom  I  could  envy.  And  now  at  last  I 
can  indeed  see  and  know  and — 

"  '  Bless  the  light  given, 

To  lead  me  to  "  life's  late  achievement,"  ' 

in  her  whom  you  know  so  fondly  and  so  well  it  would 
be  useless  for  me  to  tell  of  her  perfections.  Only  this, 
that  as  my  heart  wells  up  in  gratitude  to  you  for  all 
the  friendship  and  sympathy  and  forgiveness  that  have 


CAPTAIN  BLAKE.  495 

sustained  me  in  the  past,  it  seems  to  throb  the  very 
words  of  Valentine, — 

"  '  Why,  man,  she  is  mine  own : 
And  I  as  rich  in  having  such  a  jewel, 
As  twenty  seas,  if  all  their  sand  were  pearl.'  " 

"  Who  ever  dreamed  that  Blake  could  be  serious  for 
a  moment?"  asks  Mrs.  Wilkins,  i;i  her  neighbor's  ear, 
the  moment  the  long  round  of  applause  has  sufficiently 
subsided  to  permit  her  query  to  be  heard. 

"  I  did,"  says  Mrs.  Freeman,  stoutly.  "  He  has  a 
heart  as  tender  and  a  nature  as  deep  as  any  man  I 
know,  and  Nan  has  found  it,  and  will  hold  it,  too." 

They  say  she  has.  There  is  silver  in  the  thinning 
threads  of  his  dark  hair.  There  are  deeper  lines  about 
the  twinkling,  humorous  eyes.  It  is  ten  long  years 
since  that  glorious  day  when  they  drove  forth  from  the 
old  east  gate  with  all  the  garrison  showering  rice  and 
slippers  and  blessings  on  their  heads.  There  is  many 
a  new  face  in  the  quarters  of  the  — th.  There  are 
some  that  can  never  grow  old,  for  they  live  in  memory 
alone.  But  in  all  their  wanderings  from  point  to  point, 
each  station  has  seemed  brighter,  dearer  than  the  last, 
for  Blake  looks  ever  out  upon  the  changing  world  as 
though  he  saw  it  through  younger  eyes, — the  deep, 
serene,  and  lustrous  eyes  of  his  devoted  wife. 


FINIS. 


PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  PHILADELPHIA. 


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